Florida Gators

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Florida will look to secure its first neutral site win of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday night inside Spectrum Center. In their pursuit for win number eight, the Gators will take on the No. 23 ranked Tar Heels. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the contest will be aired on ESPNU.
 
The SEC-ACC matchup is part of the 2024 Jumpman Invitational and will be the third game in the prestigious tournament's lineup.

No. 23 North Carolina (10-2, 0-1 ACC)

• Date: Wed., Dec. 18
• Time: 6:30 p.m.
• Site: Spectrum Center
• Radio: ESPN Gainesville 98.1 FM / 850 AM
• Watch:  ESPNU
• Live stats
• Tickets

 
A FLORIDA WIN WOULD...

• Put the Gators on a five-game win streak
• Mark Florida's first neutral site win of the 2024-25 season
• Be UF's first ranked win since Feb. 6, 2022 (def. No. 14/11 Georgia, 54-51)
• Tally Coach Finley's 64th win as Florida's head coach
• Give the Gators a 5-0 record in December of 2024
• Make Florida 2-1 in the Jumpman Invitational series since its debut in 2022
• Be the program's 13th win in the state of North Carolina

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Florida		North Carolina
83.2	PPG	74.0
67.0	OPP PPG	52.2
+16.2	SCORING MARGIN	+21.8
50.1	FG %	43.8
37.2	OPP FG%	34.6
32.8	3 FG%	35.2
70.5	FT %	61.3
42.8	REBOUNDS PG	40.3
16.0	ASSISTS PG	16.2
16.2	TURNOVERS PG	11.2
8.5	STEALS PG	9.7
4.0	BLOCKS PG	4.8

THE SERIES:
The all-time series between UF and UNC stands at 3-1, favoring the Tar Heels.

GATORS x TAR HEELS HISTORY:
Florida and UNC have met a combined four times with their first recorded face off dating back to 1980. All four of their meetings have taken place on neutral soil with the Tar Heels holding an all-time advantage at 3-1.
 
The most recent tip-off between the Gators and UNC was on Nov. 23, 1997, in Champaign, IL. The 1997 contest marks Florida's sole win over the Tar Heels, defeating them 68-48. Prior to the 20-point win, UF fell 79-72 in 1994, 97-95 in 1982, and 84-71 in 1980.

PROJECTED FLORIDA STARTERS:

Florida	No.	Height	Position	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Kenza Salgues	6	5-9	G	Sr.	Montpellier, France / Miami
Laila Reynolds	13	6-1	G	So.	PG County, MD
Jeriah Warren	20	6-0	G	Sr.	Lake Charles, LA
Liv McGill	23	5-9	G	Fr.	Minneapolis, MN
Ra Shaya Kyle	24	6-6	C	Sr.	Marion, Ind. / Purdue

FLORIDA'S LAST TIME OUT:
Florida last saw the hardwood on Sunday, Dec. 15, defeating Longwood at home by a 28-point margin. UF 's 93-65 win was spearheaded by freshman Liv McGill's 21-point offensive performance. Ra Shaya Kyle followed with her fourth consecutive double-double, posting 20 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Overall, the Gators had five players in double figures for scoring, and as a team, UF shot above 50-percent from the field in all four periods of play to close out with a game average of 52.1.

GATOR QUICK HITS:

• Florida is ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 6 in the country for field goal percentage (50.1%)
• UF has three players in the SEC's top-20 for scoring
  • No. 10 Ra Shaya Kyle (16.5 ppg), No. 10 Liv McGill (16.5), and No. 19 Jeriah Warren (14.7)
• McGill is the No. 1 freshman in the NCAA for total assists with 60
• McGill is No. 3 in the SEC for assist distribution, averaging 5.45 per game
• The Gators have secured 20+ points in 27 of 44 quarters played this season
• Kyle has posted seven double-doubles in her eleven outings to rank No. 5 in the NCAA
• Kyle is No. 2 in the SEC with a field goal percentage of 66.7
• Kyle is No. 5 in the SEC for RPG with an average of 9.7

PROJECTED UNC STARTERS:

North Carolina	No.	Height	Position	Class	Hometown/Previous School
Alyssa Ustby	1	6-1	G/F	Gr.	Rochester, Minn.
Maria Gakdeng	5	6-3	F/C	Gr.	Lanham, Md./ Boston College
Reniya Kelly	10	5-7	G	So.	Hoover, Ala.
Lexi Donarski	20	6-0	G	Gr.	La Crosse, Wis./ Iowa State
Indya Nivar	24	5-10	G	Jr.	Apex, N.C./ Stanford

 
UNC QUICK BREAKDOWN:

• Ranked No. 5 in the ACC for steals per game, averaging 17.3
• Alyssa Ustby is the only Tar Heel averaging in double figures for scoring with 10.8 points per game
• Utsby also leads UNC on the boards with 9.1 rebounds per game
• Ustby is ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 5 in the ACC for rebounds with a combined 109
• The Tar Heels are No. 1 in the ACC with a defensive field goal percentage of 34.6
• UNC is ranked No. 10 in the nation for assist/turnover ratio (1.45)
• North Carolina is 4-2 against top-100 teams
• In their last 10 outings, UNC has gone 8-2
• The Tar Heels only two losses of the season were against top-ranked then No. 2 UCONN (69-58), and then ranked No. 25 Georgia Tech (82-76)
• UNC is currently 3-1 this season in neutral site match-ups

 
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