OGT: Florida 3-1/0-0 SEC vs. Pitt 4-0/0-0 ACC 11/22/2023 (9:30 PM -- ESPN2 or ESPNU)

Florida 3-1/0-0 SEC vs. Pitt 4-0/0-0 ACC
Barclays Center (17,732) | Brooklyn, N.Y.
NIT Season Tip-Off | Game 5 | Nov. 22, 2023 | 9:30 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 or ESPNU | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Brown
Analyst: Fran Fraschilla

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

 

HEAD COACHES​

Todd Golden
19-18 | 2nd season at UF
76-54 | 5th season overall

Jeff Capel
79-81 | 6th season at Pitt
254-191 | 15th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS​

All-Time Series: 3-4
Series under Golden: 0-0
Series at Neutral Sites: 2-0
All-Time vs. ACC: 153-140
Last Meeting: W, 61-45, 3/22/14,
Orlando (NCAA Tourament)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 24.3 12.3 8.5 2.3 ast
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 21.1 10.0 8.5 .704 fg%
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.2 14.5 3.5 5.0 ast
2 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 So. 29.7 13.0 3.5 2.0 stl
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 32.1 11.8 2.8 1.5 3fg

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
2 Blake Hinson F 6-8 230 Sr. 23.8 20.5 5.8 3.3 3fg
55 Zack Austin F 6-7 210 RJr. 22.5 5.5 5.5 2.3 blk
33 Federiko Federiko C 6-11 225 Jr. 21.3 7.3 7.8 3.0 blk
5 Ishmael Leggett G 6-3 185 Jr. 27.8 15.0 8.0 4.0 ast
7 Carlton Carrington G 6-5 190 Fr. 30.4 18.0 5.5 6.3 ast

 

NOVEMBER​

6 Loyola Maryland SEC+ W 93-73
10 vs. RV Virginia (Charlotte) ACC Net. L 70-73
14 Florida A&M SEC+ W 89-68
17 Florida State SEC Net. W 89-68
22 vs. Pitt (Brooklyn) ESPN2/U 9:30 p.m.
24 vs. BU/OSU (Brooklyn) ESPN/2 3/5:30
29 at Wake Forest ESPNU 7:15 p.m.

DECEMBER​

5 Merrimack SEC+ 7 p.m.
9 vs. Richmond (Sunrise) TBD TBD
14 vs. E. Carolina (Lakeland) SEC Net. 7 p.m.
19 vs. RV Michigan (Charlotte) ESPN 7 p.m.
30 Quinnipiac SEC Net. 1 p.m

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
20​

The Gators have 20 or more offensive rebounds in each of the last
three games. Prior to that streak -- the first of its kind for the Gators
this century -- UF’s had three outings with 20+ offensive boards
over the previous 264 games

50%​

Florida’s 50% offensive rebounding rate ranks #1 in the nation.

4​

The Gators’ four-game ACC slate during the month of November
continues with Wednesday’s showdown vs. Pitt. Next week’s visit to
Wake Forest concludes the run, which also featured last Friday’s
rout of Florida State in Gainesville.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida and Pittsburgh square off for the first time since the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, a 61-45 UF win in Orlando en route to the Gators’ Final Four appearance. The Gators have previously played two games at Barclays Center, a 2019 win vs. Providence and a 2021 loss vs. Maryland.

• The Gators come in on a rebounding tear, grabbing 20 or more offensive rebounds and posting a +15 or better rebounding margin in three straight games. Florida’s 50% offensive rebounding percentage ranks #1 in the nation.

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Florida blitzed Florida State, leading 27-5 before taking a 52-22 lead into halftime. The Gators shot .643 and held the Seminoles to .258 from the field during the first half. Walter Clayton Jr. led UF with 19 points, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel added 15 each and Thomas Haugh grabbed 10 rebounds.

• Will Richard knocked down four 3-pointers in a hard-fought loss vs. Virginia and posted a team-leading 16 points as all five starters scored in double figures. Micah Handlogten (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Tyrese Samuel (10 points, 11 rebounds) both posted their first double-double as Gators vs. UVA.

• The Gators started their season hot, going on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of the season-opening win vs. Loyola Maryland, led by Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals.

2023-24 OUTLOOK​

• Florida moves into its second season under head coach Todd Golden, who led the Gators to a pair of top-25 wins
and a postseason berth in his first season leading the program.

• The Gators had a busy spring in the transfer portal, bringing in one of the top transfer classes in the nation,
along with its freshman class.

• Florida also returns four scholarship players, including a pair of starters in Will Richard and Riley Kugel. Richard posted 18 double-figure scoring games, including a season-high 24 at Georgia, while Kugel shone late in the season and earned SEC All-Freshman honors after averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games of the season. Point guard Denzel Aberdeen and forward Aleks Szymczyk also return as sophomores looking to make a jump.

• UF’s transfer class includes guards Walter Clayton Jr., Zyon Pullin and Julian Rishwain along with the frontcourt duo of Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel.

• The Gators welcome several freshmen to the program with 6-foot-9 forward Thomas Haugh from Pennsylvania, 6-foot-11 Australian Alex Condon and Lithuanian point guard Kajus Kublickas joining the squad.

• Walk-ons Alex Klatsky and Jack May both return, while the Gators also added freshman Cooper Josefsberg and former team manager Bennett Andersen to the roster in the walk-on role.

• Golden’s coaching staff enters their second year with the program, including associate head coaches Carlin Hartman and Korey McCray and assistant coach Kevin Hovde. With the NCAA’s expansion of basketball coaching staff s, the Gators also added assistant coaches John Andrzejek and Taurean Green to their on-court staff.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Pitt has posted a series of dominant wins to open the season, while
the Gators will represent the Panthers’ first high-major opponent of
the season.

• Blake Hinson, who played two seasons at Ole Miss from 2018-20, leads Pitt with 20.5 points per game, while freshman Carlton Carrington
follows closely with 18.0. Carrington has made 14 3-pointers, and
Hinson has 13.

• Ishmael Leggett averages 15.0 points and leads the team with 8.0
rebounds per game and seven total steals.
• Guillermo Diaz Graham averages 10.5 points off the bench, while
Federiko Federiko has added a team-leading 3.0 blocked shots per
game to go with 7.8 boards.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES​

Nov. 1 Pitt-Johnstown (Exh.) W 96-60
Nov. 6 North Carolina A&T W 100-52
Nov. 10 Binghamton W 89-60
Nov. 13 Florida Gulf Coast W 86-74
Nov. 17 Jacksonville W 107-56

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES​

Nov. 24 vs. Baylor or Oregon State
Nov. 28 Missouri
Dec. 3 Clemson
Dec. 6 at West Virginia
Dec. 9 Canisius

ALL-TIME SERIES (3-4)​

Dec. 28, 1948 A L 40-50
Dec. 29, 1948 A L 39-45
Dec. 28, 1955 N W 98-72
Jan. 2, 1988 A L 68-80
Dec. 22, 1988 H L 87-90
March 23, 1992 A W 77-74
March 22, 2014 NCAA W 61-45

LAST 10 VS. ACC (6-4)​

Nov. 6, 2018 at #17 Florida State L 60-81
Nov. 10, 2019 Florida State L 51-63
Nov. 22, 2019 vs. Miami W 78-58
Dec. 3, 2020 vs. Boston College W 90-70
Dec. 12, 2020 at Florida State L 61-74
March 19, 2020 *vs. Virginia Tech W/OT 75-70
Nov. 14, 2021 #20 Florida State W 71-55
Nov. 18, 2022 at Florida State W 76-67
Nov. 10, 2023 vs. Virginia L 70-73
Nov. 17, 2023 Florida State W 89-68
*NCAA Tournament

GATORS AT BARCLAYS CENTER (1-1)​

Dec. 17, 2019 vs. Providence W 83-51
Dec. 12, 2021 vs. Maryland L 68-70