#13 Florida Men’s Basketball (8-0) vs. Virginia (5-2)
SEC-ACC Challenge
Florida Game Notes<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/12/2/2024.12.04_Virginia.pdf> | 2024-25 Media Guide<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/10/21/2024-25_Media_Guide.pdf> | Courtesy Photos & Press Conferences<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rb8ojhaf9ygpi6d0k3c9e/ANF6-ow4Wppu1j1zjAsnMXA?rlkey=g1esu5ww8r31yd8dyekcik5iw&st=3b1ht5u5&dl=0>
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 | 7:15 p.m.
TV/Streaming
ESPN2 | ESPN App<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/456e42d3-d685-42f5-9129-299f77d7b46c>
Play-by-Play: Kevin Brown | Analyst: Chris Spatola
Radio
Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD | FloridaGators.com<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=5540> | SiriusXM 209/190 & SiriusXM App<https://sxm.app.link/SXM960>
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley | Analyst: Lee Humphrey | Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan
The Tip-Off
* Florida welcomes Virginia for the SEC/ACC Challenge looking to extend its season-opening win streak. The teams have split four all-time meetings, but Wednesday’s showdown marks the first on either team’s campus.
* Florida has started 8-0 for the fourth time in program history and the first since the 2009-10 season. The Gators have only started 9-0 two times previously, most recently in the team’s program-record 17-0 start in 2005-06. Eight also matches the longest active win streak nationally.
* Virginia edged out Florida in Charlotte last season, while the Gators won the previous two meetings, knocking the Cavaliers out of the NCAA Tournament in both 2017 (Orlando, second round) and 2012 (Omaha, first round). Virginia’s other win vs. Florida came at Madison Square Garden the 1992 NIT semifinals.
* Todd Golden has a 1-1 record vs. Virginia, as his San Francisco squad’s Bubbleville win against #4 Virginia on Nov. 27, 2020, helped raise Golden’s national profile. Coincidentally, Florida and Virginia had originally been scheduled to play that day, but the Gators’ program pause set in motion the schedule shuffle that paired San Francisco and Virginia in that meeting.
* Florida has hit double-digit 3-pointers in four of its last five games, knocking down 11.6 3s per game at a .360 clip over that span.
* Walter Clayton Jr. has hit a 3-pointer in 31 straight games, the fifth-longest such streak in program history. His current run is the longest since Michael Frazier II’s program-record 41-game streak in 2014 and 2015.
* With 81 steals as a Gator, Will Richard has tied Florida’s transfer record of 81 career steals, currently held by Dorian Finney-Smith (2013-16).
* Florida sits at #6 in the season’s inaugural NET ranking, released by the NCAA on Monday.
2024-25 at a Glance
* Florida used a 27-0 run to bury Wichita State en route to the Gators’ ESPN Events Invitational championship, eventually outscoring the Shockers 67-22 over a 24-minute stretch. Walter Clayton Jr. took home MVP honors, while Alex Condon earned All-Tournament Team recognition.
* After a cold start from the field vs. Wake Forest, UF put together an extended 31-8 stretch capped by a 10-0 run to open the second half, as Walter Clayton’s 21 points led four double-digit scorers in the victory.
* The Gators hit 16 3-pointers in the win vs. Southern Illinois, led by Alijah Martin’s UF O’Dome record eight. Martin finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Gators.
* Florida’s +18 rebounding advantage pushed the Gators past Florida State for the fourth straight win vs. the Seminoles. Walter Clayton Jr. led the attack with 25 points, while Alijah Martin added 17.
* UF used an explosive 59-point second half to secure the season-opening win vs. USF. While the Gators struggled from 3-point range, they shot 28-for-37 from 2-point range (.757) while getting to the line and converting to the tune of 27-for-33 (.818).
* The Gators return leading scorer and All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr., who posted 17.6 points per game and knocked down 93 3-pointers. Fellow starter Will Richard also returns coming off a 11.4 scoring average with 70 3-point field goals last season. Final Four grad guard Alijah Martin (FAU) rounds out UF’s loaded backcourt.
* Sophomores Alex Condon (2023-24 SEC All-Freshman, 2024-25 preseason third-team All-SEC) and Thomas Haugh look to make a jump in their second season in Gainesville. Denzel Aberdeen returns to the backcourt, boosted by his career game in the SEC Tournament semifinals where he dropped in 20 points vs. Texas A&M.
* Florida ranked No. 21 in EvanMiya.com’s overall transfer activity, bringing in Alijah Martin (FAU) and big men Rueben Chinyelu (Washington State) and Sam Alexis (Chattanooga).
