No. 21 Florida vs. Jacksonville (Thursday, 8 p.m.)

Florida vs. Jacksonville

* When: Thursday, 8:00 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center / Gainesville, Florida.
* Records: Florida (1:0) / Jacksonville (1:0)
* TV: SEC Network+ (Kyle Crooks And Mark Wise)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Channel List
(with Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey And Steve Egan)
* Ticket information

Planned starters

The collapse

SET UP: Florida ranked 21st in the first Associated Press Poll of the season, faces upstate opponent the Jacksonville Dolphins in the home opener at the O'Dome. The Gators ended the season Monday night with a 98-83 victory over South Florida on a neutral site in Jacksonville. Her 98 points were the most in program history in a season opener on the road. The Dolphins, meanwhile, opened their citywide season with a 78-65 victory over Trinity Baptist, a local NAIA school that plays in the National Christian Athletic Association classification. The game caps a doubleheader that pits the UF women against Florida A&M at 5 p.m

SERIES: The Gators lead 32-5 and have won the last four meetings since 2011. The two teams last played on December 22, 2015, with UF having to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit to take a sluggish 89-65 win heading into the Christmas break. Florida coach Mike White was so frustrated with his team's performance that he put the striker on the bench Dorian Finney Smith And Devin Robinson in the break. Instead, he rode a trio with three guards KeVaughn Allen (Career-high 15 points), along with second-year guard Chris Chiozza and Junior Kasey Hillwho combined for 16 points, 13 assists and only two turnovers. center John Egbunu added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

ETC: JU's last win over Florida came on December 20, 2010, when the Dolphins handed the Gators a 71-68 defeat. The UF team was coached by Billy Donovanled by the 2011 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Chandler Parsonswon the regular season championship and reached the Elite Eight.

Story from the tape

The Gators

UF vetted a few coaches Todd Golden'S Boxing in the win over the Bulls. They played hard and fast to score 59 points in the second half, but the goal of making a big move defensively failed as USF made a dozen three-pointers and shot 48 percent from beyond the arc. This game is about getting ahead on that end of the floor.

Senior guards Walter Clayton Jr. And Will Richard were excellent at the start. Clayton had 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while Richard finished with a career-high 25 on 10-for-17 shooting and was the Gator, leading his team to 13 points in the first half, including eight in one. In the game, Row held during a stretch and a step-back jumper at the halftime buzzer that cut USF's 13-point lead to just one. Clayton did most of the damage driving to the basket, although he made 2 of 5 shots from distance. Richard, the team's leading shooter, was 2 of 7 from the 3-point line.

Fifth year guard Aliyah MartinThe transfer from Florida Atlantic had no touch from the outside (0 of 6 from 3), but was aggressively driven to the basket and managed to score 13 points, with the help of 7 of 10 from the open-field shooting line, so six rebounds , three assists and four steals. Martin has a career 37 percent shooting from deep.

One of UF's two transfer “bigs,” starting center Rueben Chinyelu and backup forward Sam AlexisThe latter had the biggest impact in their Gator debuts. Tennessee-Chattanooga's Alexis showed off his prowess in the post with a pair of left jump hooks and finished the game with six points, four rebounds and a block in just 13 minutes. Chinyelu was outplayed by USF's 6-11, 275-pound center Washington State Jamille Reynolds. He finished the game with just two points and four rebounds in 16 minutes, but played his best down the stretch when the Gators needed him most after the forward Alex Condon (13 points, 5 rebounds) picked up his fourth foul. Chinyelu, an active, athletic rim protector whose calling card since his arrival has been consistent effort and physical performance, is challenged by his coaches to assert himself against a crowded JU frontcourt.

Backup for the forward sophomore Thomas Haugh scored two points but played impressive defense along the way with six boards, two assists and a steal in 30 minutes, the most of UF's four frontcourt players. … Junior point guard Denzel Aberdeen scored eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one turnover in his 16 minutes. … Guard Urban Klavzarthe freshman combination from Slovenia, remains ineligible to play for the Gators as the NCAA reviews his eligibility after playing professionally overseas for the last three years.

The dolphins

They're down in season four Jordan Mincythe former UF assistant who accompanied White from Louisiana Tech in 2015 and was a popular, key member of a team that appeared in four of the five NCAA Tournaments in his six seasons with the Gators. Mincy transferred to JU in 2022 and was an instant success: He posted a 21-10 record in his first season, reached the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title game for the first time since 2009, and went undefeated at home for the first time since 1972 (15th). :0). -73. The Dolphins failed to match that success over the next two years, going 13-16 and 16-17 respectively, with the 24-25 team expected to finish somewhere in the middle of the A-Sun pack.

JU's win over Trinity Baptist was probably closer than the Dolphins would have liked given the differences in the programs and their respective classifications. Jacksonville built a 10-point halftime lead by limiting the Eagles to just 31 percent from the floor, but defended to a 54 percent margin after halftime as TB erased a 20-point JU lead and the Dolphins within three points played the second half. Jacksonville shot 41 percent in the game, made eight of 25 from the 3-point line, enjoyed a 51-34 advantage on the glass and had 18 assists.

The Dolphins' best player is the guard Robert McCraya junior in his second season since transferring from Wake Forest. He had a poor Monday night, scoring just nine points in 23 minutes. That's half of the 18.4 points he averaged during a third-team All-ASUN sophomore season, when he also grabbed 4.2 rebounds and dished out 2.9 assists. McCray finished the 23-24 season with a conference tournament-record 91 points against the Dolphins in three postseason games, including a career-best 36 points against Stetson. He shot 35.3 percent from 3 last season.

Forward Stephon Payne posted a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds to open his second JU season since transferring from Incarnate Word. He expects to have his hands full on both sides, whether against Chinyelu, Condon or Alexis.

Clue numbers

* 1,000 – Shooting percentage from the free throw line of the Clayton/Richard duo against USF, based on a combined score of 10 or 10. Clayton, who led the nation in free throw shooting two seasons ago at Iona and averaged 87.7 in his first UF season, scored 7 on 7 as Richard dropped all three of his attempts.

*3 — Where the 13-point deficit ranks on the list of biggest comebacks during Golden's three UF seasons, equaling the lead erased on the road in a 77-67 win at Georgia in 2023, thanks to 24 points from Richard, the Peach State native. The Gators' biggest golden comeback wins to date: 19 at Florida State in 2022 and 18 against Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament last March.

*12 – Assists from Florida in the opening game. The lack of all those 3s and the switch to a rim-attack strategy certainly contributed to this low number, but the Gators need to get back to the crisp and quick ball distribution they showed in the preseason.

* 34.7 – Average minutes played by UF's starting guards (Clayton, Richard and Martin) on Monday, a number that was probably a bit high for all three, but also necessary given the circumstances. Look for Aberdeen to spend a few minutes of each game against JU and later.

* 1960 – The year Florida and Jacksonville met for the first time. The date was December 28th. The event was the Gator Bowl tournament (held in conjunction with the football game), in which the Gators defeated the Dolphins 82-68.

Conclusion

Let's see how excited the home crowd will be for the start with a top-class team and great expectations.

Email Chris Harry at [email protected]