Friday, November 24, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
Florida vs. No. 13 Baylor
* What: NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game * When: Friday, 5:30 p.m. * Where: Barclay's Center / Brooklyn, N.Y.
* Records: Florida (4-1) / Baylor (5-0) * TV: ESPN2 (Kevin Brown and Fran Fraschilla) * Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Sean Kelley and Lee Humphrey) * Ticket info
Baylor's Scott Drew is one of just seven active NCAA Division I head coaches with a national championship, courtesy of the Bears' run to the 2021 title
Setup / Series / Last Meeting
Florida and Baylor will meet in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off, a two-game mini-tournament. The title matchup will follow the 3 p.m. consolation game featuring Pittsburgh
Baylor's Freddie Gillespie rises up over Keyontae Johnson (11) and the UF defense during the 2020 SEC/Big 12 Challenge
(4-1) and Oregon State (3-2), the two losers from Wednesday's first round. The Gators advanced by beating Pitt 86-71, led by guard Walter Clayton's game-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers, a performance that was the individual light of another otherwise bright across-the-board team effort on both ends of the floor. The outcome marked the best non-conference victory of Coach Todd Golden's two seasons and earned a shot at an even better one. The Bears, meanwhile, had little troubling in handling the Beavers, jumping to an 18-point halftime lead and were never threatened thereafter. ... Baylor leads the all-time series 2-1, with its most recent victory coming on Jan. 25, 2020, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, when the Bears came to Gainesville ranked No. 1 in the nation and handled the Gators 72-61 at a sold-out O'Dome. Guards MaCio Teague and Devonte Bandoo led four teammates into double figures with 16 points a piece, as the Bears used 57-percent shooting in the first half — including 6-for-12 marksmanship from deep — to open a double-digit halftime lead and coast home with relative ease. The loss dropped UF to 2-17 all-time against Associated Press No. 1 teams, including a run of 10 straight losses dating to the 2007 NCAA title game victory against Ohio State. Baylor held Florida to just 39-percent shooting in the first half and opened a 19-point lead six minutes into the second, as UF missed 12 straight 3-point attempts trying to get back in the game. Sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard had 16 points and eight assists for the Gators.
Tale of the Tape
Florida
Statistics
Baylor
85.4
Scoring
89.6
.487
Field-goal percentage
.510
.333
3-point percentage
.370
70.6
Scoring defense
69.4
.408
Field-goal percentage defense
.435
.317
3-point percentage defense
.290
25th
KenPom.com overall ranking
12th
19th
KenPom.com offensive efficiency
6th
49th
KenPom.com defensive efficiency
34th
52nd
KenPom.com adjusted tempo
60th
N/A
NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking
N/A
58th
Overall strength of schedule ranking
95th
Team Snapshots
The Gators
They'll be trying to win a third holiday tournament in the last four years and the first under Golden. The Gators are in this position because an all-around solid effort in the 15-point win over the
Zyon Pullin (center)
Panthers, a win that could very well turn into a "Quadrant 1" victory down the line, pending how Pitt fares in Atlantic Coast Conference play. This next game, however, is a no-doubt "Q-1" opportunity, of which the Gators were a just 2-13 last season. ... The status of center Micah Handlogten (8.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) will be determined at game time. The 7-foot-1 center who started the first five games rolled his ankle just 49 seconds into the Pittsburgh game and did not return, with UF trainer Dave Werner listing Handlogten as "questionable." ... Walter Clayton Jr.'s 28 points were two shy of the career-best 30 he had while at Iona. He did it by knocking down 11 of 17 field-goal attempts and six of eight 3s. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. After starting the season 3-for-12 from deep, Clayton is 9-for-16 (56 percent) the last two games (as well as 59 percent overall), which happens to coincide with the eligibility of grad-transfer point guard Zyon Pullin (12.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 6.0 apg), which allowed Clayton to move to his natural, free-flowing position off the ball. How good has Pullin been for the UF offense? How 'bout 41 assists the last two games. Without him, Florida had 45 the first three games. ... Forward Tyrese Samuel, the grad-transfer from Seton Hall, went 9-for-11 over a season-high 32 minutes on his way to a second double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) this season. He also had three assists, three blocks, three steals and no turnovers. ... Guard Riley Kugel had a tough offensive night, going two of nine overall and just 1-for-6 from 3 on his way to five points, but Kugel had six assists, a couple steals and played absolutely elite defense. Wing Will Richard also struggled offensively (5 points, 1-for-6, missing all four of his 3s). Those are two important players who didn't have much on offense, yet the Gators still won by 15. ... Backup centerAlex Condon, the active Australian, replaced Handlogten and went for 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in a career-high 24 minutes. Condon, who very likely will get his first start against Baylor, is only going to get better. ... Backup forward Thomas Haugh, who drilled an NBA-range 3-point at the halftime buzzer, had seven points and five boards in 22 minutes and checked in at a plus-15. He has 15 rebounds over the last two games.
The Bears
This is their 21st season under Scott Drew, who is 427-232 (.648) during his time in Waco, Texas, but it's what he's done of late that has placed Drew among the elite in his profession. Baylor
Ja'Kobe Walter (4)
is 109-23 over the previous five seasons (that's an .826 winning percentage), with two Big 12 regular-season titles and that 2021 NCAA championship when the Bears went 28-2. ... Baylor opened the season with an 88-82 win over Auburn on a neutral floor at Sioux Falls, S.D. The Bears trailed that game inside four minutes to go, but rallied for the win. The ensuing four victories came against Division II John Brown, Gardner-Webb, Missouri-Kansas City and Oregon State. Each of those previous four wins have come by at least 15 points. ... Two of BU's best players are freshman, starting with guard Ja'Kobe Walter, the 2023 McDonald's All American from McKinney, Texas, who has played like a seasoned veteran in his role as the Bears' go-guy. He's shooting 47 percent from the floor, 42 from 3 and 91 from the free-throw line. Against Auburn, in his first collegiate game, Walter went for 28 points, hit seven of his 13 shots, four of seven 3s and all 10 free throws. Two nights ago against the Beavers, Walter ripped for 24 points, five boards, three assists and four steals without a turnover. He is the best offensive player UF has faced this season. ... Wing Jayden Nunn, a transfer from Virginia Commonwealth, is at 50 percent overall and 46 from the arc. He had 25 against MKCU. ... Center Yves Missi, the other freshman in the starting lineup, was rated the No. 2 prospect in the state of California in '23. He goes 7-2, is making 56.3 from the floor and had five blocks against Gardner-Webb. ... Point guard RayJ Dennis is making 54 percent from the floor, but is not much of a 3-point threat. He is, though, the Bears' floor leader and ranks in the top 75 nationally in assist percentage and is a huge reason (along with Walter) they rank sixth in the country in offensive efficiency. ... Backup sophomore wing Langston Love is averaging 10.8 points and 22 minutes off the bench.
Numbers of Note
Tyree Appleby lets fly his buzzer-beating game-winner against Ohio State to win the 2021 Fort Myers Tip-Off.
* .420 — Baylor's team 3-point shooting percentage, per KenPom, which does not include statistics from games against non-Division I opponents. The Bears went 5-for-23 from distance against John Brown. Take those numbers away and Baylor is 37.0 percent to 42.0 from deep on the season, which ranks eighth nationally.
* 1 — Florida players this century to post at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals in a game, like Samuel did against the Panthers.
* 2 — Coaches with NCAA championships the Gators, come Friday, will have played in their first six games of the season, the other being Virginia's Tony Bennett. They also have two games against Kentucky's John Calipari, meaning Florida will face three of the seven active Division I coaches with NCAA titles on their respective resumes.
* plus-23 — Pullin's plus/minus score against Pitt, which was eight points higher than the next-best player (Samuel and Haugh at plus-15).
* 2021 — The last year Florida reached a holiday tournament championship game. The date was Nov. 24. The event was the Fort Myers Tip-Off. The opponent was Ohio State. The ending was incredible. With the game tied, the Gators forced a Buckeyes miss with five seconds to go. Guard Myreon Jones got the rebound and outleted to point guard Tyree Appleby, who dribbled into the halfcourt and bombed a 30-foot game-winning 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded for a 71-68 victory.
Bottom Line
OK, so it's a phrase that's used a lot this time of year, but it's appropos for this team. We'll know a lot more about the Gators after this one.
