Friday, December 22
Gainesville, FL
4 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Grambling State
UF guard Riley Kugel is averaging 11.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Kugel Out vs Grambling
Friday, December 22, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore guard Riley Kugel will be sidelined Friday afternoon when Florida (8-3) plays Grambling State (2-9) at Exactech Arena after sitting out the team's morning shoot-around with a foot bruise, Florida coach Todd Golden said.
Soreness limited Kugel during practice Thursday and bothered him enough Friday for Golden and trainer Dave Werner to decide to hold the starting shooting guard out against the Tigers.
Grad-transfer point guard Zyon Pullin, who's averaging 13.9 points, 3.8 assists and 5.0 assists while playing starter's minutes off the bench, will get his third start of the season. Pullin led UF with 22 points in Tuesday night's double-overtime win over Michigan in the Jumpman Classic at Charlotte, N.C.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Kugel is the team's fourth-leading scorer at 11.6 points per game, but is in the process of trying to work himself out of an offensive funk that has lasted four games.
Since posting back-to-back outings of a career-high 25 points in the NIT Tip-Off in New York against Baylor and 24 at Wake Forest (both losses), Kugel has averaged just 5.0 points over the last four games (all wins), while making just nine of 37 shots (24.3 percent), including 1-18 from the 3-point line (5.5 percent) to go with 12 turnovers. Against Michigan, Kugel went 2-for-10 from the floor and missed all five of attempts from 3, making him 0-for-15 from deep the last three games.
To Kugel's credit, his offensive struggles have not carried over the defensive end, where he's been outstanding as a perimeter defender.
With the team breaking for the Christmas holiday after the Grambling game, Kugel will have several days to rest the injury – UF reports back Tuesday night – with the Gators' next game not until Dec. 30 against Quinnipiac.
After that, the Gators open the Southeastern Conference season Jan. 6 at home against Kentucky.
Soreness limited Kugel during practice Thursday and bothered him enough Friday for Golden and trainer Dave Werner to decide to hold the starting shooting guard out against the Tigers.
Grad-transfer point guard Zyon Pullin, who's averaging 13.9 points, 3.8 assists and 5.0 assists while playing starter's minutes off the bench, will get his third start of the season. Pullin led UF with 22 points in Tuesday night's double-overtime win over Michigan in the Jumpman Classic at Charlotte, N.C.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Kugel is the team's fourth-leading scorer at 11.6 points per game, but is in the process of trying to work himself out of an offensive funk that has lasted four games.
Since posting back-to-back outings of a career-high 25 points in the NIT Tip-Off in New York against Baylor and 24 at Wake Forest (both losses), Kugel has averaged just 5.0 points over the last four games (all wins), while making just nine of 37 shots (24.3 percent), including 1-18 from the 3-point line (5.5 percent) to go with 12 turnovers. Against Michigan, Kugel went 2-for-10 from the floor and missed all five of attempts from 3, making him 0-for-15 from deep the last three games.
To Kugel's credit, his offensive struggles have not carried over the defensive end, where he's been outstanding as a perimeter defender.
With the team breaking for the Christmas holiday after the Grambling game, Kugel will have several days to rest the injury – UF reports back Tuesday night – with the Gators' next game not until Dec. 30 against Quinnipiac.
After that, the Gators open the Southeastern Conference season Jan. 6 at home against Kentucky.
Players Mentioned
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