Tag: Kowacie Reeves

Florida hoops loses forward CJ Felder indefinitely

CJ Felder is taking some time away from the Florida basketball team, according to head coach Todd Golden.

Florida men’s basketball head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] said that forward [autotag]CJ Felder[/autotag] would be away from the team for an indefinite period of time on Friday during his media availability.

Although the reason for Felder’s leave of absence is unknown, Golden made sure to clarify that Florida wasn’t punishing him in any way. In fact, reports from 247Sports’ Graham Hall and Jacob Rudner suggest that Florida didn’t want Felder to leave the team and that the decision was personal.

Golden remarked that the door was left open for Felder’s return if he wanted to, but the expectation is that he will be out for the remainder of the season. He’s not expected to be on the bench for Saturday’s contest against No. 20 Missouri.

Felder began the 2022-23 campaign as Florida’s starting power forward but slowly lost the job to [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag]. After averaging just under 17 minutes a game as a starter, Felder’s playtime was cut in half to 8:45 a game off the bench. Most recently, he played just two minutes for the Gators against Georgia.

He spent the first two years of his college career at Boston College before transferring to UF. He served as a rotational big man for the Gators in 2021-22 under Mike White with [autotag]Anthony Duruji[/autotag] ahead of him. Felder was supposed to be a major player for Golden in Year 1 but that hasn’t come together.

With Felder gone, the Gators will move forward with Fudge as the starter and look to utilize a small-ball lineup when necessary. It’s been tricky for Golden to get [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] playing time, so he may look to utilize some of their length at the four spot with Felder away.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida’s win at LSU Tigers on Tuesday

Take a look at some of Tuesday night’s highlights, with updates to come.

Florida basketball made it two in a row in Southeastern Conference play with a 67-56 win on Tuesday night against the LSU Tigers on the road inside of Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Gators got off to a sluggish start again but managed to keep things close heading into the halftime locker room down by only three. [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s gang came out in the second half on fire, pushing the lead to double digits which provided enough cushion to cruise to victory.

[autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] had a strong night, leading the way for Florida with 18 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] was the only other Gator in double digits notching 11 points to go with his three rebounds; [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] paced the team in assists with three dimes.

Take a look below at some of the best shots from Tuesday night’s men’s basketball action between the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers.

Gators’ sloppy start against SEC leads to lack of support in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Florida might have earned a vote or two with a win over the Aggies last week. Beating LSU and Missouri this week is crucial if Florida is going to gain any support.

Florida once again failed to earn a single vote in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll update.

The Gators beat Georgia to wrap up Week 10 but a close loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday proved costly for the Orange and Blue. The Aggies earned one vote this week, putting them in a tie for an unofficial No. 46 spot in the poll results. That could’ve been Florida had the score gone the other way.

Fortunately, UF has a good chance to redeem itself and earns some votes if it can beat LSU and Missouri over the coming week. The Tigers in purple and gold earned six votes this week, and the Tigers from Mizzou are flat-out ranked at No. 20 overall this week. It’s a good test week for a team that needs to get a signature win sooner than later.

[autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] seems to be getting some of his mojo back and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] has been electric off the bench. [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] almost found the right recipe against Auburn to kick off conference play, so going 2-0 this week isn’t out of the question.

Speaking of Auburn, the Tigers are one of five ranked SEC programs this week. Alabama and Tennessee are battling in the top five at Nos. 4 and 5,  respectively, Arkansas checks in at No. 16 and Auburn is just below Missouri at No. 22.

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

Rank Team Record Points Trend
1 Houston 16-1 774 (14) +1
2 Kansas 14-1 767 (12) +1
3 Purdue 15-1 734 (6) -2
4 Alabama 13-2 676 +3
5 Tennessee 13-2 655 +4
6 UCLA 14-2 603 +2
7 Connecticut 15-2 601 -2
8 Gonzaga 14-3 569 +2
9 Arizona 14-2 535 -5
10 Texas 13-2 462 -4
11 Xavier 13-3 428 +7
12 Virginia 11-3 395 -1
13 Kansas State 14-1 370 +15
14 Iowa State 12-2 332 +11
15 Miami (FL) 13-2 329 -3
16 Arkansas 12-3 290 -3
17 Texas Christian 13-2 269 –
18 Wisconsin 11-3 240 -3
19 Providence 14-3 206 +11
20 Missouri 13-2 193 +1
21 Duke 12-4 165 -7
22 Auburn 12-3 159 -2
23 Marquette 13-4 123 +11
24 Charleston 16-1 77 +8
25 San Diego State 12-3 72 +8

Schools Dropped Out

No. 16 Baylor; No. 19 Indiana; No. 22 New Mexico; No. 23 Ohio St.; No. 24 Illinois; No. 25 Kentucky.

Others Receiving Votes

Illinois 50; Baylor 48; Clemson 45; Michigan St. 38; Ohio St. 32; Saint Mary’s 30; Indiana 29; Northwestern 15; Maryland 13; Florida Atlantic 13; Kentucky 11; North Carolina 10; Rutgers 8; New Mexico 7; Louisiana State 6; Pittsburgh 5; Iowa 5; Mississippi State 4; Texas Tech 3; Nevada 2; Texas A&M 1; Boise St. 1.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s loss vs Texas A&M Aggies

Take a look at some highlights from Wednesday night’s action.

Florida basketball failed to capitalize on its late rally against the Texas A&M Aggies in the O’Connell Center on Wednesday night, dropping their second-straight Southeastern Conference matchup after a furious rally against the Auburn Tigers also failed in the SEC opener. After all was said and done, the Gators came away with a 66-63 loss at the hands of the visitors sending them to the .500 mark on the season with a 7-7 mark overall.

[autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag]’s 21 points and four dimes paced the Orange and Blue while [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag]’s 14 was the only other double-digit total for a Gator. Catleston, [autotag]Kowacie reeves[/autotag], [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] all notched a team-high five boards — though the latter fouled out with five minutes remaining in the game.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida basketball’s second SEC loss of the season, this time coming at the hands of the visiting Texas A&M Aggies.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s win vs Ohio Bobcats

Take a look at some of the best photos from Wednesday night’s romp over the Bobcats.

Florida basketball bounced back from an ugly loss the previous week with an authoritative win over the Ohio Bobcats inside Amalie Arena on Wednesday night. The Gators had control from the get-go and never took their foot off the pedal en route to an 82-48 neutral-court victory in Tampa.

[autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] led the attack dropping 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting overall and 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Three other Gators scored in double digits as [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag], [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] and [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] joined the scoring parade with 15, 13 and 12, respectively.

Take a look below at highlights from the Gators’ route of the Ohio Bobcats in Tampa on Wednesday night.

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.

Kowacie Reeves returns to Florida lineup, Gators cruise past FAMU

You know it’s a good game when Alex Klatsky and Jack May get to play. Florida routed Florida A&M, 102-62, Wednesday night.

Florida needed to make a statement after falling to West Virginia by 29 points in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, and the Gators answered with a 40-point rout of the Florida A&M Rattlers that ended 102-62.

The Gators came out of the gate hot and never really looked back against a lesser opponent. The big story coming into the game was how many minutes [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] would get after playing minimal time in Portland. Injuries to Florida’s starting guards, [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag], forced Reeves back in the starting lineup, and the sophomore shined… at least in the first half.

[autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag], who started at point guard, was lights out from three-point range, setting a school record on 7-of-7 shooting from deep, and he led all scorers with 23 points. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] wasn’t the dominant big man he was earlier in the season, but [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] made up for it off the bench with a double-double.

Even [autotag]Jack May[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Klatsky[/autotag] got some playing time against FAMU, which is the hallmark of a blowout Gators win. Florida needed this one badly, but it won’t mean much in the long run.

Stetson is up next on Sunday, and then it’s time for another test as Connecticut comes to town on Wednesday.

Florida hoping to bounce back against FAMU after sloppy tournament performance

Florida’s performance in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament left a lot to be desired, but the Gators are back at home Wednesday night against the FAMU Rattlers.

After an ugly performance at the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in Portland, Oregon, that saw Florida drop two of three games, the Gators are back in the O’Connell Center for a three-game home stand and are hoping to kick things off with a win over Florida A&M Wednesday night.

The big story coming into this one is sophomore wing [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag], who played just eight minutes for Florida in the recent tournament. Head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] took responsibility for Reeves’ lack of minutes saying he lost track of the rotations and accidentally kept Reeves out of the game, but that isn’t clicking with everyone in Gator Nation.

Golden’s niche is tracking stats, and to think that he simply forgot about a player that shows tremendous upside and started the first four games for Florida just doesn’t seem believable. The first thing that comes to mind is that Reeves is being disciplined for something, but Golden has gone on record saying that there’s nothing punitive about the change in minutes. He also said that Reeves would be back on the court Wednesday night, so those who follow the team closely will want to keep an eye on when Reeves checks in and checks out against a fairly beatable opponent.

Speaking of Florida A&M, the Rattlers are off to a rough start this season. A 1-4 record leaves plenty to be desired, but the alarming statistic here is that FAMU was held to 54 points or less through its first three games of the year. The Rattlers put up 61 in a 26-point loss to Miami and 70 in a win over Albany State University, but it’s safe to say that scoring is not their forte.

FAMU might also struggle to contain Florida’s big man, [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag]. The Rattlers lack a true big man to match up with Castleton’s height, which should get him back on track in the scoring column. His production plummeted in Portland and his scoring average dropped from a near 25 points per game to just under nine over the tournament. Still, Castleton has had back-to-back 30-point games this season against similar competition, so this would be his bounce-back game if ever there was one.

Florida enters the game as the heavy favorite and should come out victorious, but the margin of victory matters here. A 20-point win is expected and anything less could indicate bigger problems for the team. That said, expect Todd Golden to use this stretch to figure out his lineup and rotation issues.

Tip-off is at 8 p.m. EST in the O’Connell Center in Gainesville.

Projected Starting Lineups:

FLORIDA

Player Pos H/W Class
CJ Felder F 6-7 / 240 Senior
Colin Castleton F 6-11 / 250 5th Year
[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] G 6-4 / 206 Sophomore
[autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag] G 6-3 / 188 Graduate
Trey Bonham G 6-0 / 170 Junior

FLORIDA A&M

Player Pos H/W Class
Jaylen Bates F 6-7 / 215 Junior
Chase Barrs F 6-9 / 210 Senior
Byron Smith G 6-2 / 185 Junior
Jordan Chatman G 6-5 / 208 Sophomore
Jordan Tillmon G 6-2 / 180 Junior

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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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