Florida vs Milwaukee (Thursday, 6 pm)

Florida vs. Milwaukee

* When: Thursday, 6 p.m.
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (2-0); Milwaukee (1-1)
* TV: SEC Network+ (Kyle Crooks and Patric Young)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

**Colin Castleton** was named the first SEC Player of the Week for the 2021-22 season after his outings against Elon (18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 blocks) and Florida State (15 points, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks) to open the year.

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Anthony Duruji	F	6-7 / 220	R-Senior	11.5 ppg / 7.0 rpg
Colin Castleton	F	6-11 / 231	Senior	16.5 ppg / 10.5 rpg / 6.0 bpg
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1 / 163	R-Senior	9.5 ppg / 4.0 apg
Brandon McKissic	G	6-3 / 185	Graduate	8.0 ppg / 3.0 rpg
Myreon Jones	G	6-3 / 175	Senior	16.0 ppg / 6.0 rpg

Milwaukee	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Patrick Baldwin Jr.	F	6-9 / 220	Freshman	20.0 ppg / 10.5 rpg
Joey St. Pierre	C	6-10 / 225	R-Junior	2.0 ppg / 2.0 rpg
Vin Baker Jr.	F/G	6-9 / 190	R-Junior	5.5 ppg / 1.0 rpg
DeAndre Gholston	G	6-5 / 215	Junior	18.0 ppg / 7.0 rpg
Donovan Newby	G	6-1 / 190	Freshman	6.0 ppg / 2.5 rpg

The Breakdown

Walk-on guard Alex Klatsky (right) and the UF bench go nuts during UF's second-half blitz Sunday of Florida State.

Series / Last Meeting

The only time the two teams have met, the Panthers were still referred to as "Wisconsin-Milwaukee." Now, it's just plain Milwaukee. But before UF and UW-M faced off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Jacksonville. The third-seeded Gators opened tournament play by beating South Alabama, while the Panthers, the Midwest Region's No. 11 seed and champions of the Horizon League, upset sixth-seeded Oklahoma. It was an eight-point game at halftime, but the Gators shot 59 percent after the break, went on to win 82-60 and advanced to the program's first Sweet 16 in six years. Corey Brewer led UF with 23 points, including five of eight makes from 3, while center Joakim Noah had 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks. UF is 3-0 all-time against current Horizon teams, with the last game a win over Wright State in a game played at Tampa on Nov. 21, 2011.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	2021-22 Stats	Opponent
72.5	Scoring	73.0
.405	Field-goal percentage	.441
.302	3-point percentage	.289
58.0	Scoring defense	68.5
.385	Field-goal percentage defense	.338
.343	3-point percentage defense	.339
23	KenPom.com overall ranking	130
28	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	130
24	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	139
277	KenPom.com tempo	178

Team Snapshots

The Gators

They're coming off one of the program's best victories in years; certainly one of the most satisfying (and needed) wins of Coach Mike White's seven seasons. UF absolutely blistered cross-state rival, Atlantic Coast Conference power and 20th-ranked Florida State over the final 10-plus minutes of their Sunday meeting at the O'Dome, using a run of 13 consecutive points to

wipe out a one-point Seminoles lead and finish the game on a 38-11 run. Final: 71-55. It made for a quite a celebration for the UF faithful that not only had not experienced a win over FSU since 2013, but had been punished by double-digit defeats in the last four outings of a seven-game losing skid in the series. ... The flu bug that's run rampant through Florida teams and hit the basketball squad last week remains an issue, with a couple players held of practice upon the return from the FSU game. UF may either be short-handed or not at full health for this one, as well. ... Florida put four starters in double-figure scoring, led by forward Colin Castleton's stat-stuffing afternoon of 15 points, career-high 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. Forward Anthony Duruji played his all-around finest game in a UF uniform, with 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals, but his overall energy on both ends of the floor was eye-popping and infectious. ... Two new transfer guards, Myreon Jones (senior from Penn State) and Brandon McKissic (graduate from Missouri-Kansas City), combined for 24 points, nine rebounds and six steals. ... Point guard Tyree Appleby was affected by the flu bug that hit him early on game day, but battled to five points, five assists and turned the ball over just once against FSU's high-pressure defense. In 2019, while playing at Cleveland State, Appleby scored 33 points in a Horizon game against Milwaukee by going 7-for-12 from the 3-point line and eight of 10 on his free throws. ... Reserve guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr., another first-year transfer (from Charleston Southern), also fended off the flu to score nine points, five rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes off the bench. ... The top six players in the Florida rotation accounted for 187 of the team's 200 minutes, a remarkable feat given the intensity and physicality the Seminoles annually play with. Even more remarkable was that in happened in a win (a lopsided one, at that). ... Look for junior forward CJ Felder, the team's fourth 2021 transfer (by way of Boston College), to get more than the two minutes he saw against FSU. Felder is an athletic, physical defender who can block shots, but is raw with his offensive skills set. ... The UF defense blocked 10 shots in each of the first two games, the first the Gators squad to post back-to-back 10-block games in the same season.

The Panthers

Patrick Baldwin is in his fifth season coaching Milwaukee, with a 48-71 record and no winning seasons either overall or in league play to show for it. Last season, the Panthers went 10-12 overall and checked in eighth in the Horizon at 7-10. Baldwin's is a resume after four seasons looked like a soon-to-be former coach's resume, but the powers that be at UWM decided to bring Baldwin back

because of the spectacular recruiting job he did in landing the No. 4 overall player in the country: Patrick Baldwin, Jr. Yes, his son. Baldwin Jr., a.k.a. "PBJ," is a 6-9 forward who also plays guard and has a picture-perfect jump shot. He entered his senior season of high school at Hamilton (Wis.) Sussex High as the No. 1 prospect in the country, but only played two games due to a season-ending ankle injury. As for as his suitors, the injury didn't matter. Among PBJ's finalists were Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina, but he chose to play for his father and become the first McDonald's All American in program history. So far, he's averaging a double-double while shooting 38.2 percent overall and 25 from the 3-point line. ... UWM opened the season with a 75-60 road win at North Dakota, but lost the much-anticipated home opener for Baldwin Jr. 77-71 to Eastern Kentucky. ... The Panthers have decent size for a mid-major program, with players going at least 6-9 and three at least 6-10, including two 7-footers. Their bigs are not particularly athletic or fast, though. ... Stocky guard DeAndre Gholston, by way of Tallahassee Community College, led the team in scoring last season at 16.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds. ... After sitting out the 2019-20 season as a transfer, then missing all the '20-21 campaign due to COVID and injuries, forward Vin Baker Jr. is getting his first action since leaving Boston College. Baker is the son of the four-time NBA all-star Vin Baker, who last year won the ultimate basketball championship ring as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. ... Reserve guard Josh Thomas averaged 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds last season, but upped that first number to 18.0 over the last nine games of the season. He'll bring some punch off the bench. ... Backup 7-1 forward Moses Bol is a grad-transfer from UCF, where he did not play after arriving from junior college in Kansas. And, yes, he is a cousin of former 7-7- NBA player Manute Bol and his son, Bol Bol, currently with the Denver Nuggets.

Numbers of Note

Before Sunday's win over Florida State, the last time UF defeated a non-conference ranked opponent at home, fifth-year senior forward **Dorian Finney-Smith** bombed five 3-pointers on his way to 24 points in a blowout defeat of No. 9 West Virginia in the 2016 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

* 396 — White's winning percentage against ranked opponents, based on a 19-30 record following the FSU victory.

* .500 — White's winning percentage against ranked opponents at home, based on a 7-7 record.

* .750 — Florida from the free-throw line against Florida State, thanks to a 12-for-13 showing in the second half after a rough 3-for-7 through the first 20 minutes. Those first-half clangs raised some eyebrows, given the Gators were a dreadful 16-for-29 (55.2 percent) in the opener against Elon, a performance that belied the program's reputation under White as an excellent free-throw shooting team. UF shot 75.5 as a team last season, the fifth-best percentage in program history.

* 13 — Minutes played by Gators reserves after the top six rotational players: freshman guard Elijah Kennedy (6), sophomore guard Niels Lane (3), Felder and junior center Jason Jitoboh (2), with freshman wing Kowacie Reeves and sophomore forward Tuongthach Gatkek getting DNPs. Both Jitoboh and Reeves were coming out of flu symptoms. Still, that's a short bench that definitely will have to chip in more down the line. But who will be the guys who step up?

* 2016 — The last year UF defeated a ranked non-conference opponent at the O'Dome, before Sunday's win over Florida State. The was Jan. 30 of that year when the Gators demo-ed No. 9 West Virginia 88-71 in their SEC/Big 12 shootout meeting, which came in White's first season. In the six seasons since, Florida had just two previous cracks at ranked teams at home. The Gators lost 63-59 to No. 10 Michigan State on Dec. 8, 2018 at the O'Dome, and to No. 1 Baylor 72-61 on Jan. 25, 2020.

Bottom Line

So, how do they respond after the biggest win in several seasons. A veteran team (and this is certainly that, albeit with diverse backgrounds, given the top seven players are transfers) would respond with the same dogged mentality it took into the last one.

Gators Calendar

Florida vs Milwaukee (Thursday, 6 pm)