Tag: college men’s basketball

Florida basketball stomps Ohio in Tampa behind Kowacie Reeves’ 20 points

Kowacie Reeves dropped 20 as the Gators dominated the Ohio Bobcats in Tampa on Wednesday night.

Florida took out a week of pent-up rage and frustration on the Ohio Bobcats Wednesday night as the Gators waltzed to a 34-point victory at the Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Of course, the last time Florida was on the court was over a week ago as it spent the better part of a 40-minute contest trailing by over 10 points to the now No. 3 ranked Connecticut Huskies. It was a tough test, but Florida has yet to come up big against a Quadrant 1 opponent and the frustration is mounting among the fans and team. A week to stew on that loss only seemed to fuel the Gators in the win over Ohio, but it might not be the bounce-back win Florida needed.

The Gators played a strong game against a lesser opponent, but this isn’t the first time this team has proven it can beat the teams it’s supposed to. Florida plays Oklahoma next week on neutral ground and that should paint a much clearer picture of where this team is at.

Here’s what we can learn from Florida’s 82-48 win over the Ohio Bobcats.

Florida still unranked in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after 20-point loss to UConn

Florida’s up-and-down start to the season hasn’t earned it any support in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Florida only had one game this week and it ended in a 20-point loss to the Connecticut Huskies. That didn’t do the Gators any favors on Monday when the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll was updated.

Losing to No. 3 UConn isn’t the worst loss in the world for Florida, but it is the latest failed test for a club still searching for its identity under first-year head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]. It will take a strong performance against the conference for Florida to muster up any support in the Coaches Poll over the coming weeks.

UF has just one game scheduled for the coming week, a Wednesday night matchup with the Ohio Bobcats. Florida should have a chance to get back in the win column in that one and then comes Oklahoma, the final game of the non-conference slate.

Florida needs all the kinks to be worked out by the end of the second half against the Sooner, and hopefully, [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] will be back in the starting lineup by then. Golden is still trying to find the right mix of minutes for what appears to be a talented roster.

[autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] has emerged as a potential starter at the four over [autotag]CJ Felder[/autotag], and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] is back on the court after Golden flubbed the rotations and left him on the bench for most of a three-game stretch.

Here’s a full look at the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for men’s basketball.

Rank Team Record Points Trend
1 Purdue 10-0 697 (9) +3
2 Virginia 8-0 7683 (12) +1
3 Connecticut 11-0 677 (7) +2
4 Houston 9-1 588 -3
5 Alabama 8-1 585 +5
6 Kansas 9-1 568 –
7 Tennessee 9-1 550 –
8 Texas 7-1 537 -6
9 Arizona 8-1 487 –
10 Arkansas 9-1 466 -2
11 Baylor 7-2 387 +1
12 Duke 10-2 366 +3
13 Kentucky 7-2 330 +3
14 UCLA 8-2 310 +4
15 Gonzaga 7-3 291 +3
16 Indiana 8-2 272 -5
17 Maryland 8-2 237 -4
18 Auburn 8-1 223 -4
19 Illinois 7-3 204 -2
20 Mississippi State 9-0 155 +6
21 Ohio State 7-2 134 +2
22 Texas Christian 8-1 102 +3
23 Wisconsin 8-2 99 +9
24 Virginia Tech 10-1 99 +4
25 Miami (FL) 10-1 55 +3

Schools Dropped Out

No. 20 Iowa State; No. 21 Creighton; No. 22 San Diego St.; No. 24 Iowa

Others Receiving Votes

Marquette 46; Iowa State 46; Iowa 46; West Virginia 32; Memphis 29; Charleston 24; Creighton 20; Saint Mary’s 15; Xavier 14; UNLV 13; New Mexico 9; San Diego St. 8; Kansas State 6; Utah St. 4; Texas Tech 4; Arizona State 3; Rutgers 2; North Carolina 1; Michigan St. 1.

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Florida puts together second-straight blowout win, takes down Stetson by 38

Back-to-back big wins and Alex Klatsky appearances have spirits up in Gainesville, but a major test against UConn looms on the schedule.

Florida basketball has been rolling over its past two games and the Gators certainly look prepared for UConn after taking down the Stetson Hatters, 89-51.

It’s the second-straight game that Florida has won by just about 40 points and a major confidence boost for a team that struggled on the road at the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament over Thanksgiving. Ironically, Florida has played some of its best basketball of the season without its starting point guard, [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag]. [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] did rejoin the team in this one, but Lofton remains on the bench as he deals with an injury.

In place of Lofton, [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] have stepped up big time. Reeves put together another solid performance on Sunday, but Bonham was a bit off from the field. No matter, though. Florida’s offense was firing on all cylinders against a weaker opponent and ran away with things in the second half.

UF’s defense also looks a bit better, but that could be a product of the opposition’s skill level rather than an improvement from the team. It’s hard to gauge whether Florida is playing well enough to take down UConn on Wednesday, but it’s hard to argue against back-to-back blowout wins.

Gators in ‘Next Four Out’ according to ESPN’s bracketology

Despite a slow start to the season, Florida basketball is still a borderline tournament team, according to ESPN’s latest bracketology update.

Florida’s big flop at the Phi Knight Legacy Tournament didn’t lead to the Gators falling out of NCAA Tournament contention entirely, but ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has them on the very edge of the bubble of his latest bracketology update.

Lunardi has Florida in his ‘Next Four Out’ after a 4-3 start that included losses to Florida Atlantic, West Virginia and Xavier. Both the Mountaineers and Musketeers are Tournament-bound teams, according to Lunardi, but there’s no excusing the loss to FAU. Still, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s team is considered a borderline Tournament team that could jump into the Last Four In with a quality loss against UConn, which is currently a No. 2 seed, in a week.

For those who don’t follow college hoops closely, bracketology is what the media uses to describe an educated guess at what the field of 68 will look like come Selection Sunday. Lunardi is among the top bracketologists in the nation, and his word is gospel to many. That said, you can only accurately predict so much correctly in a field this large. That means that Florida could wind up in or out if the season ended today. Lunardi’s guess is out, but it’d be a close call.

The “on the bubble” section has four distinct groups: the Last Four Byes, the Last Four In, the First Four Out and the Next Four Out. Obviously, the ins make it into the tournament, and the outs do not, but being in the first four out is much better than being in the next four out. Florida has to play itself into a Tournament spot at this point, whereas a team like Texas A&M could join the field with a loss from a fringe team in the Last Four In.

The SEC is well-represented in Lunardi’s projected field of 68. Tennessee is a No. 3 seed and Auburn is a No. 5 seed in the South; Arkansas is a No. 4 seed in the West; Alabama is a No. 4 seed and Kentucky is a No. 6 seed in the East; and Mississippi State is a No. 7 seed in the Midwest. LSU and Ole Miss would have to win a play-in game to secure the No. 11 seeds in the Midwest and West regions, respectively.

There’s still plenty of time for these projections to change, and trust that they will, but it’s good to keep track of where Florida stands in the grand scheme of things throughout the year. Right now, things don’t look great, but the season isn’t out of reach just yet.

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Todd Golden provides an update on Kowacie Reeves’ playing time

Kowacie Reeves began the season as a starter for Florida, but his minutes have dwindled significantly over the last four games. Here’s what head coach Todd Golden had to say about the situation.

Florida fans who watched the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament over the holiday weekend may have noticed that sophomore wing [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag]’ minutes were down significantly.

Reeves played an average of 24 minutes through Florida’s first three contests, but his playing dropped to just 10 minutes against Florida State and he saw just eight minutes on the court during the Gators’ three-game run in Portland, Oregon. Head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] addressed that dropoff on Tuesday and took full responsibility for the situation.

“I did a bad job this past week in a lot of ways,” Golden said when asked about Reeves’ lack of playing time. “I need to be better. Speaking bout Kowacie specifically, definitely nothing disciplinary. I thought we got a good rhythm in the Florida State game. Trey (Bonham) has been playing very well. I think he kind of took on that role.”

Golden admitted that Reeves was understandably disappointed but handled the situation with grace. The first-year head coach maintained that Reeves has a role on the team and that the staff believes he will be an impact player down the road. It’s worth noting that Reeves has cleared his Instagram page of any photos and removed the Gators basketball affiliations from his profile biography.

“Sometimes, it’s not so much about what one individual player is or isn’t doing as opposed to another guy stepping up and playing a little better,” he continued. “I think, again, I need to do a better job managing rotations. ‘Wace got the short end of the stick. That’s on me. He didn’t deserve to not play, but just kind of caught in the moment and it just kind of happened. He’ll be back out there tomorrow night.”

Golden’s reasoning appeared to be genuine, but it’s hard to imagine forgetting to play an experienced SEC athlete that’s put up decent numbers in a Gators uniform. Reeves shows flashes of NBA potential and his one bucket during the tournament was a reverse jam after driving the baseline.

If something else is going on here, it wouldn’t be surprising, but Golden is keeping the media blind for now. Reeves’ playing time against Florida A&M on Wednesday should provide a better idea of what kind of changes Golden has in mind to get his talented wing some more playing time.

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Florida bounces back against Oregon State in Phil Knight Legacy Tournament

Black Friday went much better than Thanksgiving for the Florida men’s basketball team as the Gators rolled over the Oregon State Beavers in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament.

The Florida Gators took down the Oregon State Beavers, 81-68, on Friday night to advance to the fifth-place game of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament.

UF got out to a very hot start in this one and never really looked back. Florida spent just 37 seconds of this ame without the lead, and most of the time it was a double digit lead. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] didn’t have a monster night thanks to four fouls, but he looked a lot better than he did against Xavier and proved that not every 7-footer is going to shut him down. There’s still plenty of time for him to prove that he’s one of the nation’s top big men, but his draft stock is about where it was at the end of last season despite a great start to the year.

On the other hand, guard [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] as lit up the scoreboard in each of his two starts during this tournament. He figures to be a major part of the starting lineup moving forward, even if it means cutting into [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag]’ playing time. Bonham led all scorers with 19 points, and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] was lights out with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Although it was a nice bounce-back win, Florida still has to prove itself against a non-Quadrant 4 opponent to earn some respect this year. That likely won’t happen in the fifth-place game of this tournament, but conference play might present the opportunity.

Florida basketball erases 17-point halftime deficit to beat FSU in Tallahassee

Florida was down 17 points at the half, but Colin Castleton took over in the second period and led the Gators to victory, 76-67.

The Florida Gators mounted a comeback for the ages on Friday night, taking down the Florida State Seminoles by a final score of 76-67 after trailing by nearly 20 at the half.

Although it’s a cliche in sports, this truly was a tale of two halves. The Gators scored twice as many points in the second half of the game and slowed down a red-hot FSU offense until a lead was firmly established. The Seminoles could not stop turning the ball over in the second half, allowing the Gators to go on a 20-3 run through the first 6:15 of the period that erased a 17-point halftime lead.

Florida’s big man [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] contributed 10 of his 25 points during that stretch and completely took over a game he appeared to be struggling in before the half. As the clock whittled down, it became clear that there would be no slowing down the Gators’ offense and the FSU faithful began filing out of the building.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]’s 13 points were good enough for the second-best number on the team, and [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] finally played meaningful minutes off the bench, seemingly in place of true freshman [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag] who struggled.

As good as it feels to leave Tallahassee with a win, there’s clearly a lot for Florida to work on if the Gators are going to be successful in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, which begins in just under a week on Thanksgiving Day.

Here are five takeaways from Florida’s first win in Tallahassee since 2012.

Florida basketball loses votes in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after strong start

Florida’s 2-0 start didn’t impress the voters of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The Gators lost votes in the latest update.

The Florida Gators have started the season off 2-0 under new head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag], but UF isn’t getting the support most might expect in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll update.

The Gators received five votes in the preseason iteration of the poll, but that number dropped to just one in the post-Week 1 update. While a bit surprising, Florida hasn’t exactly faced a quality opponent yet, beating Stony Brook by 30+ points and taking care of Kennesaw State by a less impressive margin.

Up next on Florida’s schedule are Florida Atlantic and Florida State, neither of which received a vote in this week’s poll. The Seminoles started off the season unofficially ranked ahead of Florida with 13 votes in the preseason poll, but a season-opening loss to Stetson and injuries have tempered expectations for that team.

That means Florida’s best chance to prove itself on a national stage will be the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament that begins on Nov. 24. If the Gators can take care of Xavier in the first round, there’s a good chance it will play Duke in the semifinal and possibly Gonzaga in the final.

As far as the rest of the SEC goes, Kentucky is ranked No. 4 and Arkansas rounds out the top 10. Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee are battling at Nos. 15,16 and 17, respectively. Texas A&M also received 25 votes.

Here’s a look at the poll in its entirety.

A full look at the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for men’s basketball.

Rank Team Record Points Trend
1 North Carolina 2-0 775 (22) –
2 Gonzaga 2-0 747 (7) –
3 Houston 2-0 723 (2) –
4 Kentucky 2-0 707 (1) –
5 Kansas 2-0 662 –
6 Baylor 2-0 643 –
7 UCLA 2-0 575 –
8 Duke 2-0 567 –
9 Creighton 2-0 534 –
10 Arkansas 2-0 492 –
11 Texas 2-0 483 +1
12 Arizona 2-0 379 +1
13 Indiana 2-0 376 +1
14 Virginia 2-0 323 +4
15 Auburn 2-0 304 –
16 Alabama 2-0 265 +3
17 Tennessee 1-1 249 -6
18 TCU 2-0 231 -2
19 San Diego St. 2-0 222 +1
20 Illinois 2-0 167 +3
21 Michigan 2-0 155 +1
22 Texas Tech 2-0 149 +2
23 Dayton 2-0 139 +2
24 Purdue 2-0 93 +2
25 Michigan State 1-1 62 +5

Schools Dropped Out

No. 17 Villanova; No. 21 Oregon.

Others Receiving Votes

Ohio St. 60; Iowa 52; Connecticut 46; Villanova 44; Oregon 43; Texas A&M 25; Virginia Tech 20; Wisconsin 19; Miami-Florida 18; Saint Mary’s 14; Xavier 10; Toledo 10; Saint Louis 10; Rutgers 4; Drake 2; Florida 1.

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Florida basketball takes down Stony Brook to kick off Golden era

The Golden era of Florida basketball started off with a bang as the Gators blew out Stony Brook, 81-45, Monday night.

Florida basketball started off the (Todd) Golden era with an 81-45 win over the Stony Brook Seawolves Monday night at the O’Connell Center.

Florida started off hot scoring 12 unanswered points and holding Stony Brook scoreless through the first six minutes of the game. After that, it was all Gators, and Florida was able to test out all of its depth pieces late in the game.

[autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag], the transfer forward from LSU, led all scorers with 16 points off the bench and looks like a potential starter down the stretch. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag], the team’s star center, led Florida with 20 minutes on the court, but there was no need to play him for the final 10 minutes of the game. UF’s new-look backcourt of [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] also shined, but more on that below.

Overall, it was a fun start to the new era of Florida hoops under Todd Golden, but Stony Brook was far from a tough opponent. Florida’s non-conference schedule starts off easy, but things could get competitive in a hurry. With Florida State coming up on Nov. 18 and the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament a week later, Golden’s team will get tested early.

Here are five major takeaways from the Gators’ season opener.

Gators hoops begins Golden era unranked in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Florida received a few votes in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, but the Gators will start the year outside the top 25.

The Florida Gators men’s basketball team will start the 2022-23 college hoops season unranked on the USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll. Florida received just five votes in the preseason rankings.

At the top of the list are North Carolina, Gonzaga and Houston. Kentucky is the first SEC team to appear at No. 4 and picked up more first-place votes than Houston did.

Arkansas and Tennessee are the next highest-ranked teams in the conference at Nos. 10 and 11, respectively. Auburn has a hold on the No. 15 spot coming into the season, and Alabama rounds out the list of ranked SEC squads at No. 19.

Texas A&M is the only other team in the conference to garner any votes, finishing at an unofficial No. 27 with 37 votes. For comparison, Dayton, the No. 25 team in the country, has just 75 votes to its name.

As far as the other in-state schools, Miami is just behind the Aggies with 31 votes and Florida State had just 13. The Gators and Seminoles meet up on Nov. 18.

A full look at the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for men’s basketball.

Rank Team Record Points Trend
1 North Carolina 0-0 778 (23) –
2 Gonzaga 0-0 759 (5) –
3 Houston 0-0 713 (1) –
4 Kentucky 0-0 697 (3) –
5 Kansas 0-0 660 –
6 Baylor 0-0 632 –
7 UCLA 0-0 560 –
8 Duke 0-0 552 –
9 Creighton 0-0 500 –
10 Arkansas 0-0 498 –
11 Tennessee 0-0 486 –
12 Texas 0-0 449 –
13 Arizona 0-0 352 –
14 Indiana 0-0 334 –
15 Auburn 0-0 318 –
16 TCU 0-0 317 –
17 Villanova 0-0 300 –
18 Virginia 0-0 287 –
19 Alabama 0-0 176 –
20 San Diego St. 0-0 173 –
21 Oregon 0-0 128 –
22 Michigan 0-0 122 –
23 Illinois 0-0 115 –
24 Texas Tech 0-0 107 –
25 Dayton 0-0 75 –

Others Receiving Votes

Purdue 44; Texas A&M 37; Miami-Florida 31; Connecticut 31; Michigan St. 29; Providence 22; Iowa 22; Syracuse 13; Florida State 13; Virginia Tech 9; Southern California 9; Saint Mary’s 8; Wyoming 7; Wisconsin 7; UAB 6; Ohio St. 5; Florida 5; Iowa State 4; Xavier 3; Toledo 2; Rutgers 2; Drake 2; Boise St. 1.

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