Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Billy Donovan Court
Gainesville, Fla. | Dec. 4, 2022 | 2 p.m.
TV
SEC Network | ESPN App
PxP: Mike Morgan | Analyst: Pat Bradley
Radio
Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD | SXM App 963 | Streaming on FloridaGators.com<https://floridagators.com/showcase?Live=4983> & The Varsity Network App
PxP: Sean Kelley | Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Gators at a Glance
* Sunday marks the second straight game and the third time this season the Gators have faced off against a former assistant, all three of whom were at UF under different head coaches. UF has a 20-3 mark vs. former assistants since 2000, with one of those losses coming to a Donnie Jones UCF team (12/1/10). Florida has also squared off vs. Robert McCullum (FAMU; at UF 1991-96) and Dusty May (FAU; at UF 2015-18) this season.
* Florida is coming off a win vs. Florida A&M that saw five Gators in double figures, led by Trey Bonham’s 23 points and Kowacie Reeves’ 19. UF played without a pair of usual starters in that game, as Kyle Lofton (back) and Will Richard (knee) were sidelined.
* Trey Bonham has averaged 15.8 points over the last five games, including two 23-point outings. He’s shooting .446 from the field and .448 from 3-point range over that span.
* Will Richard has provided efficient scoring from the wing, tallying at least 13 points in six of Florida’s seven games while shooting .571 from the field, .520 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line. Richard posted a season-high 18 points vs. Xavier.
* Alex Fudge posted his first career double-double vs. Florida A&M, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. All 16 points and nine of his rebounds came in the second half.
* Colin Castleton’s double-double vs. Xavier (11 points, 10 rebounds) marked his 15th as a Gator, tying him with Joakim Noah and Chandler Parsons for fifth-most by a Gator since the 1996-97 season.
* UF’s 19-point rally at Florida State marked the fourth-largest in team history and the largest on the road since a 22-point comeback at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993. Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half.
* Colin Castleton opened the season on fire and posted back-to-back 30-point outings, notching a career-best 33 vs. Kennesaw State and 30 vs. FAU. An individual has recorded back-to-back 30-point games nine times in UF history and Castleton is the seventh different player to accomplish the feat. He was the first since Anthony Roberson in Jan. 2005 to do so (see page 6 for full list).
* Castleton became the first Gator with a 30-point double-double since Joakim Noah (37/11 vs. Georgia, 3/1/06) and the only SEC player since the 1996-97 season with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in a game, a stat line he accomplished vs. FAU.
* Kowacie Reeves stepped up with a pair of late 3-pointers in the win vs. Kennesaw State. Reeves had his strongest showing of the season with 19 points vs. Florida A&M, which included three 3-pointers and three authoritative dunks.
* Riley Kugel made his first career start vs. Florida A&M, marking six straight seasons and 15 of the last 16 in which a freshman started at least one game for UF (every season since 2007-08 except 2016-17).
* Grad point guard Kyle Lofton (Saint Bonaventure), a three-time All-A-10 player who scored 1,613 points in four seasons with the Bonnies, came to Florida via the transfer portal. UF also brought in a trio of transfers who all have three years of eligibility remaining: junior Trey Bonham (VMI), sophomore Alex Fudge (LSU) and sophomore Will Richard (Belmont).
* Golden compiled a 57-36 record over three seasons at San Francisco and led the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998 and their first at-large selection since 1982.
