OGT-Florida at Kentucky 2/4/23 8:30 pm ESPN

Feb 4 (Sat) 8:30 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SEC
Florida at Kentucky
Lexington, KY

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BROADCAST INFO
ESPN | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SiriusXM 385 | SXM App 975
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
13-9 | 1st season at UF
70-45 | 4th season overall
John Calipari
382-108 | 14th season at Kentucky
785-246 | 32nd season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 41-107
All-Time/Away: 11-54
Series under Golden: 0-0
Away under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting: L, 63-71, 3/5/22 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 250 Gr. 31.0 15.1 7.7 3.1 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 20.3 5.3 3.0 2.3 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.5 10.1 4.6 1.7 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 31.0 8.8 3.0 3.1 ast
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 18.4 6.6 2.5 0.8 stl

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
0 Jacob Toppin F 6-9 205 Sr. 29.0 11.5 6.3 2.1 ast
24 Chris Livingston F 6-6 220 Fr. 16.9 5.4 2.9 0.5 ast
34 Oscar Tshiebwe F 6-9 260 Sr. 33.0 16.5 13.6 1.6 stl
1 CJ Fredrick G 6-3 185 RSr. 23.9 7.4 0.4 1.5 3fg
2 Sahvir Wheeler G 5-9 180 Sr. 28.7 7.7 2.3 5.7 ast

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
49​

Todd Golden is the first Florida coach in 49 years to post multiple
top-25 wins in his first season leading the program, joining John
Lotz (two in 1973-74) and Tommy Bartlett (three in 1966-67) as the
only UF coaches to do so.

.430​

Florida has held its opponents to .430 two-point field goal percentage,
seventh-best in the nation and 7% below the national average (.500).

7.25​

Myreon Jones has posted a 7.25 assist-to-turnover ratio in SEC play,
dishing 29 assists vs. four turnovers against conference foes

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida visits Kentucky for the first of two meetings this season. The Gators have won six of their last seven SEC contests and enter Saturday’s matchup off a win vs. #2 Tennessee.

• Colin Castleton’s 20 points and nine rebounds led the Gators’ win vs. #2 Tennessee, along with Kyle Lofton’s 14 points and four rebounds. Both Lofton and Will Richard posted a +26 plus-minus. The win marked Florida’s
sixth all-time top-2 win and matched the highest-ranked home win in program history.

• Florida ranks eighth in defensive efficiency nationally (KenPom) as Florida has held SEC opponents to .363 from the field and .238 from 3-point range. The Gators have held 11 of their last 12 opponents under .400 from the field.

• Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (15.1), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (68), free throws made (89) and co-leads alongside Trey Bonham in steals (21). Kyle Lofton tops the Gators with 62 assists, and Will Richard paces Florida with 35 made 3-pointers and a .412 3-point percentage.

• As a team, the Gators’ 5.9 blocked shots per game rank third in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.09 blocked shots per game also rank third the nation.

• Florida turned in a complete performance vs. South Carolina, where Colin Castleton’s 18 points led five scorers in double figures and the Gators dished a season-high 21 assists vs. five turnovers. Myreon Jones flirted with a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists -- both career highs -- to go along with nine points and zero turnovers.

• Six SEC schools hired new head coaches in 2022, including Florida. Todd Golden has posted a 5-0 mark against his fellow first-year coaches around the league and swept his first time through last off-season’s hires.

• UF built a 16-point first-half lead at Mississippi State, then staved off the Bulldogs’ rally, getting a stop on the final possession of the game to seal the win. Colin Castleton posted 13 points, while Will Richard added 12 on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range. Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones combined for 11 assists and zero turnovers, and Lofton chipped in a season-high and team-leading eight rebounds.

• Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind two strong performances in the wins at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks with a career night at the free throw line (12-for-15). He followed up with an all-around performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, a career-high six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

• The Gators’ win at LSU snapped the Tigers’ 13-game home winning streak. As UF made its second-half run, the Gators got timely 3-pointers from Myreon Jones and Riley Kugel, each of whom assisted on the other’s big basket.

• The Gators had five players in double figures in their win vs. UGA, led by Kyle Lofton’s season-high 18. Colin Castleton posted 12 points, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists, while Will Richard added 14 points and nine rebounds.

• 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

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Kentucky has won five straight SEC games. Antonio Reeves came off the bench for 27 points at Ole Miss, shooting 6-for-7 from 3-point range.

• Oscar Tschiebwe leads Kentucky with 16.5 points and 13.6 rebounds per game along with 19 blocked shots.

• Reeves (13.4 ppg), Jacob Toppin (11.5) and Cason Wallace (11.3) all average double-figure scoring, as well. Reeves has knocked down a team-leading 52 3-pointers (.413).

• Sahvir Wheeler leads UK with 114 assists, and Wallace paces the team with 43 steals.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 17 Georgia W 85-71
Jan. 21 Texas A&M W 76-67
Jan. 24 at Vanderbilt W 69-53
Jan. 28 Kansas L 68-77
Jan. 31 at Ole Miss W 75-66

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Feb. 7 Arkansas
Feb. 11 at Georgia
Feb. 15 at Mississippi State
Feb. 18 Tennessee
Feb. 22 at Florida

LAST 20 VS. KENTUCKY (7-13)
Feb. 15, 2014 A W 69-59
March 8, 2014 H W 84-65
March 16, 2014 SEC W 61-60
Feb. 7, 2015 H L 61-68
March 7, 2015 A L 50-67
March 13, 2015 SEC L 49-64
Feb. 6, 2016 A L 61-80
March 1, 2016 H L 79-88
Feb. 4, 2017 H W 88-66
Feb. 25, 2017 A L 66-76
Jan. 20, 2018 A W 66-64
March 3, 2018 H W 80-67
Feb. 2, 2019 H L 54-65
March 9, 2019 A L 57-66
Feb. 22, 2020 A L 59-65
March 7, 2020 H L 70-71
Jan. 9, 2021 H L 58-76
Feb. 27, 2021 A W 71-67
Feb. 12, 2022 A L 57-78
March 5, 2022 H L 63-71

 

UK to retire Mike Pratt's jersey at halftime of Florida game

The jersey retirement ceremony for Mike Pratt, who earned All-America and Academic All-America honors as a University of Kentucky basketball player and served 21 seasons as an analyst on UK radio broadcasts, will be Saturday during halftime of the game vs. Florida.

“It is with deep gratitude that we recognize the contributions of Mike Pratt by raising his banner in the rafters of Rupp Arena,” athletics director Mitch Barnhart said. “From his time as an All-America and All-SEC player, helping lead us to championship seasons, to his two decades of insightful commentary on our radio broadcasts, Mike occupies a special place in the hearts of the Big Blue Nation and the history of UK Athletics. We look forward to honoring the Pratt family at this event.”

UK to retire Mike Pratt's jersey at halftime of Florida game