Florida Gators

No. 24 Florida at No. 18 South Carolina 

 
* When: Saturday, noon (ET)
  (Note: Game moved up one hour to accommodate a national audience)
* Where: Colonial Life Arena (18,000) / Columbia, S.C.
* Records: Florida (20-8, 10-5) / South Carolina (23-5, 11-4)
* TV: ESPN and SEC Network (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
  (Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan) / Stations list 

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Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Tyrese Samuel	F	6-10 / 239	Graduate	13.5 pts / 7.9 reb
Micah Handlogten	C	7-1 / 236	Sophomore	6.4 pts / 7.6 reb
Will Richard	G	6-4 / 206	Junior	11.4 pts / 3.8 reb
Walter Clayton Jr.	G	6-2 / 195	Junior	16.8 pts / 3.8 reb
Zyon Pullin	G	6-4 / 206	Graduate	15.3 pts / 3.8 reb / 4.9 ast

South Carolina	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
B.J. Mack	F	6-8 / 270	Senior	13.6 pts / 4.8 reb
Collin Murray-Boyles	F	6-7 / 231	Freshman	9.7 pts / 5.1 reb
Zachary Davis	G	6-7 / 194	Sophomore	5.4 pts / 3.6 reb
Meechie Johnson	G	6-2 /184	Senior Junior	13.8 pts / 4.3 reb
Ta'Lon Cooper	G	6-4 / 200	Senior	9.8 pts / 4.4 reb / 4.4 ast

The Breakdown

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

No. 24 Florida and No. 18 South Carolina meet in a game between two teams that had losing records under first-year coaches last season and now appear bee-lined for the NCAA Tournament. The stakes are huge for both, with the winner taking a big step toward clinching one of the top four seeds (and double byes) in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, set for March 13-17 at Nashville, Tenn. ... The Gators are coming off Wednesday's 83-74 home win against last-place and league-winless Missouri, which gave the team five victories in its last six outings (nine in the last 11) and a piece of a three-way tie (with Auburn and Kentucky) for fourth place in the SEC standings. That same night, the Gamecocks won a second straight road game against a conference rival trying to stay in the NCAA mix. USC defeated Texas A&M 70-68 in the final seconds, four days after handing Mississippi a decisive 72-59 defeat on its home floor. The Gamecocks sit by themselves in third place in the SEC standings, just a game out of first place (behind Tennessee and Alabama), but just one game ahead of UF and its fourth-place partners. ... Florida leads the all-time series 48-28, with two straight wins. The last meeting came on Jan. 25, 2023, when UF fifth-year guard Myreon Jones flirted with a triple-double by tallying nine points, 10 rebounds and eight assists (without a turnover) over 31 minutes in leading the Gators to an 81-60 victory in Gainesville. The home team shot 47 percent from the floor and a got a season-high 21 assists on 31 made field goals. UF built an eight-point lead at the half, then shot 65 percent in the second half on the way to surging in front by 30 points before emptying the bench. Fifth-year forward Colin Castleton had 18 points and sophomore guard Kowacie Reeves added 15.
 

Tale of the Tape

Florida	Statistics	South Carolina
84.7	Scoring	71.7
.455	Field-goal percentage	.441
.336	3-point percentage	.341
77.0	Scoring defense	65.3
.435	Field-goal percentage defense	.410
.321	3-point percentage defense	.326
28th	KenPom.com overall ranking	46th
15th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	55th
82nd	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	42nd
30th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	354th
34th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	47th
54th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	88th

Team Snapshots

The Gators

About six weeks ago, they were near the bottom of the SEC standings after starting the league schedule with three losses in four games, including a couple ugly blowout defeats at Ole Miss

and Tennessee. Much has changed. The Gators have forged an identity of a team that can score, rebound and protect the ball. When Florida wins, it usually does all three of those things well. When the Gators lose, they usually have slippage in one of those key areas of strength. Now comes another big road date and a chance to show growth. UF is 3-5 on the road this season. ... Coach Todd Golden described forward Tyrese Samuel as a "grown man" following his career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds against Mizzou. Samuel had it going in the paint, making 12 of his 16 shots, and provided a huge lift to an offense that was fighting to score against the Tigers' converting zone defense. The Gamecocks figure to be far more sound and offer far more resistence in the low post, but Samuel doesn't back down from anyone. ... Speaking of bigs, center Micah Handlogten had his fourth double-double of the season (12 points, 12 rebounds) and first in eight games. After the game, Samuel called Handlogten the best offensive rebound in the country. That's up for debate, but what isn't is how much better the Gators are when their starting center is being active and matching opponents' physicality. ... What else can be said about Zyon Pullin? The UF point guard had to be great after leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. was disqualified from the game on an unconventional foul-out sequence with 15 minutes remaining. Pullin banged four of five 3-pointers (going 3-for-3 in the second half) and each seemed huge at the time. He also hit a couple timely mid-range jumpers and was 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and is now 85.6 percent on the season. ... Clayton had 13 points when he unnecessarily hacked a Tiger for his fourth foul and compounded the play with a technical that fouled him out of the game. Clayton was playing well at the time, having sank four of nine shots, three of seven 3s and both his free throws, while grabbing three rebounds, dishing five assists and carding two steals without a turnover. ... When Will Richard is on point from the arc, the Gators are at their best. Against Mizzou, though, Richard missed his first seven shots and went 1-for-9 for the game (1 of 8 from deep), but did have four assists. The game before Richard tied his career-best of five 3s in the win over Vanderbilt. ... Because Samuel and Handlogten were playing so splendidly, freshmen backups Alex Condon (7.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Thomas Haugh (3.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg) didn't get their normal rips. Condon, though, still grabbed six rebounds and Haugh blocked two shots that became transition opportunities. ... Sophomore guard Riley Kugel (9.6 ppg) scored three points, but with Clayton out the Gators needed his defense and Kugel delivered in the second half on his way to playing 20 minutes his most in four games. Sophomore Denzel Aberdeen (2.7 ppg) also was called on, but mostly struggled in his six minutes.
 

The Gamecocks

In 2022-23, their first season under Coach Lamont Paris, the Gamecocks went 11-21 overall and 4-14 in conference play. A year and a rebuild later, South Carolina is trying to win a SEC

championship. It's an amazing story and one worthy of Paris being mentioned for whatever coach-of-the-year honors are out there. Paris sprouted from the Bo Ryan defense-first coaching tree at Wisconsin, where he was part of the staff that went to two Final Fours and staged one of the biggest upsets of the century in handing No. 1, unbeaten and history-seeking Kentucky its first loss in the 2015 national semifinals. Paris got his head-coaching break at Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he took over a program in major transition, suffered through two ugly years before breaking through to go 65-29 over his last three seasons, including 27-8 with a Southern Conference title and NCAA berth in 2022. That's when USC swooped in, following the firing of Coach Frank Martin after 10 seasons, and two years later the Gamecocks are one of the best stories in college basketball. ... USC is 13-2 at home this season, with losses narrow losses to Georgia and LSU. ... The Gamecocks rank third in the SEC in defensive efficiency, third in 2-point percentage allowed (48.5) and fourth in 3-point percentage (31.4). Only eight teams play at a slower pace and only one of those teams (notoriously slow Virginia) is from a power conference. The USC offensive numbers fall in line with what Paris is trying to do, as in control tempo, avoid transition opportunities and making opponents play in the halfcourt. The Gamecoacks are a very well-balanced team (no stars) with five scorers between nine and 14 per game and six rebounders with at least 3.3 per game. ... Guard Meechie Johnson is in his second season since transferring from Ohio State. Though just 40 percent from the floor and 33 from deep (his 47 makes are a team high), Johnson is a volume shooter and playmaker. In the road win Wednesday at A&M, Johnson drove the length of the floor in the final seconds, drew the defense and dished a phenomenal bounce pass to a cutting teammate for a layup with :03 to go and the win. ... Forward B.J. Mack was first-team All-Southern Conference player last season before becoming one of the top names in the transfer portal. Mack, who started his career at South Florida, met with UF's staff before opting for USC. He's at 42 percent on the season, needs to be honored from deep at 32 percent and has shot a team-high 109 free throws at 77 percent. ... Collin Murray-Boyles is a collegiate rookie who has punched his way into the starting lineup and looking like a Freshman All-SEC selection as a pure inside guy. He's at 59 percent from the floor and not a threat from deep (0-for-5 on the season). Of his 101 rebounds, 47 have come on the offensive end which speaks to his fight. ... Point guard Ta'Lon Cooper played three seasons at Morehead State (one alongside current Auburn star Johni Broome) and one at Minnesota before heading to Columbia. A case can be made that he's been the difference-maker on this team. Cooper is shooting 49 percent from the floor and 41 from distance, with his 40 makes tied for second on the team. His 114 assists to just 33 turnovers is as impressive (and important to his team) as the fabulous ratio put up by Pullin. ... Backup wing Myles Stute made his share of 3s against the Gators while playing the previous two seasons at Vanderbilt, including four last year when the Commodores swept the season series. He's still making them, with his total of 40 at 39 percent second only to Cooper for efficiency. ... Guard Jacoby Wright (6.1 ppg), wing Zachary Davis (16 3s at 29 percent) and 6-10 forward Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (2.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg) joined Johnson as the lone holdovers from Paris's first team and each plays to their designated roles. 
 

Numbers of Note

* 3 — Offensive rebounds needed by Handlogten to become the first UF player to record at least 100 offensive rebounds in a season since Patric Young in 2013-14.

* 7 — Years since South Carolina last reached the NCAA Tournament (read on at your own risk).

* 23 — Points Samuel and Pullin combined to score over the final seven minutes in the Missouri win.   

* 25 —  Points the Gators combined to score over the final seven minutes in the Missouri win.

* 2017 — The year Florida and South Carolina met in the NCAA East Region championship game at Madison Square Garden, with the No. 7-seed Gamecocks upsetting the No. 4-seed Gators 77-70, leaving UF one game shy of its sixth Final Four. USC senior guard Sindarius Thornwell, the 2017 SEC Player of the Year, was superb in scoring 26 points, grabbing seven rebounds and serving as the catalyst for a defense that overwhelmed the Gators after intermission, allowing only 33-percent shooting from the floor and zero 3-point field goals on 14 tries. During one stretch in the second half, Thornwell scored eight straight points (and 10 of 12, with an assist on the other basket) in a run that pushed the Gamecocks ahead and ultimately sent the Gators to their fourth Elite Eight loss in the previous seven seasons and USC to its first Final Four in program history. Senior forward Justin Leon led UF with 18 points and six rebounds. 
 

Bottom Line

Big-time game and equally big opportunity for Gators that figures to be as difficult an environment as they've faced all season.