Florida Gators

Florida at LSU

 
* When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Maravich Assembly Center / Baton Rouge, La.
* Records: Florida (8-7, 1-2) / LSU (12-3, 1-2)
* TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Daymeon Fishback)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Sean Kelley and Lee Humphrey)

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Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Fudge	F	6-7 / 240	Sophomore	7.5 pts / 5.3 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11 / 231	5th-Senior	14.7 pts / 7.5 reb / 3.0 blk
Will Richard	G	6-5 / 206	Sophomore	10.1 pts / 4.4 reb
Trey Bonham	G	6-0 / 170	Junior	9.9 pts / 2.9 reb
Kyle Lofton	G	6-3 / 188	5th-Senior	9.2 pts / 2.5 reb / 3.5 ast

LSU	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
KJ Williams	F	6-10 / 250	5th-Senior	18.2 pts / 7.7 reb
Derek Fountain	F	6-10 / 225	Junior	7.3 pts / 5.7 reb
Adam Miller	G	6-3 / 190	Sophomore	13.3 pts / 2.0 reb
Cam Hayes	G	6-2 / 185	Junior	8.7 pts / 2.0 reb
Justice Hill	G	6-0 / 175	Senior	7.5 pts / 1.8 reb / 3.5 ast

The Breakdown

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

Florida and LSU square off for the first of two meetings this season, as the teams were pegged as rotating home-and-home opponents (each league team gets two annually) by the Southeastern Conference for 2022-23. ... The Gators are coming off Saturday's 82-75 home win against Georgia, while the Tigers lost 69-56 at Texas A&M. ... The programs are guided by new coaches, Florida's Todd Golden (by way of San Francisco) and LSU's Matt McMahon (Murray State), both of whom were in the mix for some of the same job openings last spring. The two coaches met in first-round NCAA Tournament play last March 17 at Indianapolis, with seventh-seeded Murray defeating No. 10-seed USF 92-87 in overtime. Both accepted their new jobs mere hours after being eliminated. ... LSU leads the all-time series 66-50. The Tigers defeated the Gators 64-58 in their last meeting, Jan, 12, 2022 at Gainesville, where hometown product Darius Mays scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and carded four steals to lead the nation's 12th-ranked team to a road victory that spun UF to an 0-3 mark in SEC play (all losses vs. ranked opponents) for the first time in 41 years. LSU was playing without injured point guard Xavier Pinson and with standout front court players Tari Eason and 7-footer Efton Reid totaling just eight points and four rebounds over a combined 20 foul-plagued minutes. Eric Gaines replaced Pinson and scored 15 points, hitting six of seven free throws, as the Tigers never trailed and scored on all nine second-half possessions after the Gators drew within a possession. UF shot just 36.4 percent for the game and hit only 11 of 22 free throws, including four of 11 in the second half. The Gators were led by Colin Castleton's 19 points and nine rebounds, plus 11 points and four rebounds from guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. ... The two teams will play in the regular-season finale March 4 at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. 

Tale of the Tape

Florida	Statistics	LSU
74.7	Scoring	70.9
.454	Field-goal percentage	.454
.341	3-point percentage	.361
67.2	Scoring defense	64.5
.407	Field-goal percentage defense	.427
.348	3-point percentage defense	.281
57th	KenPom.com overall ranking	80th
90th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	100th
34th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	71st
41st	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	207th
70th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	90th
25th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	158th

Team Snapshots

The Gators

Florida snapped a three-game losing streak with the win over Georgia, but the Gators are still looking for their first "Quadrant 1" win, relative to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). This game, however, will

represent a Q-2, with LSU ranked 90th in the NET (not in the top 75 required for a road Q1 game). That said, UF doesn't need to think about quality wins. The Gators need wins, period, and SEC road victories are tough to come by, with the Tigers 9-0 at Maravich this season. ... Florida has held its last five opponents to under 40-percent shooting from the floor, but the Gators had a good run of 3-point defense stopped against the Bulldogs, who nailed 10-for-20, including seven of 10 in the second half. They also surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and have now given up double-digit offensive boards in all three SEC games. ... Point guard Kyle Lofton, the transfer from St. Bonaventure, had his best game in a UF uniform against the Bulldogs. He scored a team-high 18 points, on 7-for-11 shooting, hit a 3, knocked down three of four free throws, dished three assists (two in the final minute) and did not turn the ball over. ... Forward Colin Castleton did not have a big scoring night, finishing with 12 points, but did a lot of everything else: 8 rebounds, 5 assists, career-high 7 blocks over nearly 35 minutes. He became the first player since Kentucky center Nerlens Noel in 2013 to have at least five assists and seven blocks in a SEC game. ... After nearly a month trying to rediscover his shooting touch, guard Will Richard banged five of seven shots, two of four 3s, and also pulled a season-best nine rebounds. ... It was a tough afternoon for guard Trey Bonham (0 points), who ceded his spot in the second half to fifth-year senior Myreon Jones (4.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg). Jones dropped five of his seven shots, including a season-high three 3s (on four attempts) on his way to 13 points (also a season high) to go with three steals over 27 minutes. ... Backup wing Kowacie Reeves also started the second half, replacing forward Alex Fudge, as the Gators opted for a smaller lineup. Reeves tallied 12 points, five boards and three assists off the bench. Fudge had a tough offensive afternoon, making just one of seven shots, but that one was a big 3 in the second half. He also grabbed six rebounds. Fudge should have some extra incentive for this one, considering he transferred from LSU after his freshman year last season. ... Freshman guard Riley Kugel scored six of his eight points in the final 1:42, including a pair of nasty dunks on great feeds from Lofton that helped close the game out. He was challenged by the coaching staff on several fronts last week and responded with some terrific practices that spilled over against Georgia when his teammates needed him.

The Tigers

McMahon was going to land a big-time job. It was just a matter of where. His record with the Racers over seven seasons -- he was an assistant at MSU for four seasons then was promoted to

head coach after Steve Prohm left for Iowa State in 2015 -- was 154-67 and included five regular-season Ohio Valley Conference championships, four tournament titles and four NCAA appearances. Last year's team went 31-3, including 18-0 in league play, beat USF in the tournament's first round, then lost to Cinderella Saint Peter's a game shy of the Sweet 16. ... In bolting for Baton Rouge, McMahon took three of his best Racers with him -- three of the team's top four scorers, in fact -- and each has made instant impacts with the Tigers, starting with forward KJ Williams, who ranks second in the SEC in scoring. His 54.9 percent from the floor rates fourth in the league and he's not just posting his big body for those numbers. Williams is hitting 49 percent from the 3-point line, with his 29 makes second on the team. He also leads the Tigers in steals with 24. ... Point guard Justice Hill, another former Racer, isn't scoring like he did at Murray (his shooting percentages all-around are not great), but he's running the offense to the tune of 53 assists to just 23 turnovers. ... Former Racer No. 3 is guard Trae Hannibal, a sturdy, football player-looking guard and outstanding defender that UF fans might recall played two seasons for Frank Martin at South Carolina. Hannibal has come off the bench in all but one game. He's not a shooter (just three 3-point attempts on the season), but attacks the paint and will get to the line, though struggles to convert. His 51 free throws lead the team, but he makes just under 65 percent. He also has 43 assists, but is more prone to giveaways (31) than Hill. ... Guard Cam Hayes (39 percent from 3 and 80 from the free-throw line) transferred from North Carolina State, while fellow guard Adam Miller came from Illinois two years ago, but sat out the '21-22 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in preseason practice. Miller is at 39 percent from 3 and 80 at the free-throw line. ... Forward Derrick Fountain is a transfer from Mississippi State, where he was a seldom-used role player the last two seasons. ... A pair of backups, forward Mwani Wilkinson (2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg) and guard Justice Williams (3.4 ppg), are the only leftover Tigers from last season's team. Another backup, 6-10, 230-pound freshman forward Jalen Reed (2.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg) from Jackson, Miss., signed with Florida last year as part of Mike White's last recruiting class, but opted out after the change in staff. He's shooting over 52 percent from 3-point range. ... The Tigers are 12th in the country at defending the 3-point line, allowing just 28.2 percent (that actually ranks just fourth in the league), and also are a top-40 team in steals, so beware the passing lanes. 

Numbers of Note

* 15.0 — Average number of offensive rebounds surrendered in UF's first three league games, based on Auburn, Texas A&M and Georgia grabbing 45 compared to just 19 for the Gators (6.3 per game).

* 82.7 — Florida's free-throw percentage in the three SEC games, based on 48-for-58 from the line. 

* 97 — Points scored by Fudge during his lone season with LSU in '21-22. Fudge played in 29 games, with one start, averaging 13.9 minutes, 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds, shot 42.4 percent from the floor, 28.6 from deep and 56.8 from the free-throw line.  

* 238.9 — Average NET ranking of the nine opponents LSU has faced at home, with the highest-ranked team being No. 16 Arkansas, which the Tigers defeated in their league opener. The next-highest? No. 194 North Carolina Central. 

* 1947 — The first time Florida and LSU played a men's basketball, which is odd, given the two schools were charter members of the SEC when it was born in 1932. The Tigers won that first meeting 60-45 in the SEC Tournament in Louisville, Ky. 
 

Bottom Line

Did that first SEC win (and the first win of any kind in nearly four weeks) redirect the Gators' season?