Tag: myreon jones

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s close loss at Texas A&M

Take a look at the best photos from Wednesday night’s SEC action.

Florida basketball lost a close one on the road against the Texas A&M Aggies on Wednesday night, 54-52, after missing the final shot in a game they never led in. The action during the final minutes — and final seconds, even — was intense, but unfortunately, UF’s three-game winning streak came to an end.

The Gators got off to a putrid start, making only two shots in the opening 20 minutes for just 12 total points, which was obviously a season-low output on offense for the first half (or either half at that). However, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s guys turned up the heat in the second frame and whittled the deficit to as low as one point but simply did not have enough to pull ahead of TAMU.

[autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] led the way for Florida despite struggling out of the gates, scoring 14 points along with 13 rebounds – both team highs — while also swatting six shots. [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] was the only other Gator to tally double-digit points with 10 coming off a 3-for-13 effort from the field.

Take a look below at some highlights from Wednesday night’s matchup between the Gators and Aggies in College Station, Texas.

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.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida’s loss at Auburn in SEC opener

Take a look at some of the top highlights from Florida’s close loss to the Auburn Tigers.

Florida basketball came out strong in its Southeastern Conference schedule opener against the Auburn Tigers on the road in Neville Arena, battling out a 61-58 loss despite a valiant fight. The matchup represented a faceoff between mentor and mentee as Bruce Pearl nudged [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] in their first meeting on the collegiate parquet.

While the Gators put up one of their best efforts of the season it simply was not enough to overcome the top-25-ranked Tigers, who were not expected to deal with as much trouble as they did with Florida.

The Orange and Blue had just two players in double-digit scoring, as Kowacie Reeves led the way with 15 followed by [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag]’ 10-spot. Three Auburn players reached the two-digit mark as two notched 14 while a third added 13.

Take a look below at some of the top highlights from Florida’s SEC-opening loss on the road to the Auburn Tigers.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s big win over Stetson Hatters

Here are highlights from Florida’s second-straight victory on the college parquet.

Florida basketball made scored its second consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon in the O’Connell Center against the visiting Stetson Hatters, 89-51, to push the Gators’ record to 6-3 early on in the 2022-23 season.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] led all scorers with 14 points while four others also finished with double digits. [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] led all players on the glass with eight rebounds and [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag]’ five assists were also a game-high. Florida shot 61.3% from the field overall including a 53.8% effort from beyond the arc while sinking 78.6% of its free throws.

Take a look below at some of the best photos from Florida’s romp over its in-state foes, the Stetson Hatters, in Gainesville on Sunday.

Florida guard Myreon Jones set to return for extra year

First Colin Castleton announced his return to Florida basketball and now Myreon Jones has done the same.

On Monday, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] received the good news that [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] would be exercising his extra year of eligibility to return to Florida for another season. Six days later, [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] followed in his footsteps and decided to return for a super-senior season, according to a report from Jon Rothstein.

Jones’ return gives the Gators a veteran ball-handler in the backcourt to pair with rising sophomore [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] and Belmont transfer [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]. There’s also sophomore [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] and incoming freshman [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] to consider in the backcourt rotation.

The thought was that Florida would need to grab a point guard from the portal after [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag] announced his decision to transfer, but Jones fills that spot in nicely. Golden can still go after someone he likes in the portal with three open roster spots, though.

Jones transferred from Penn State in 2021 and averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game with the Gators as a senior. He was very streaky over the season and finished with the season shooting 35.5%. Most of Jones’ shots came from beyond the arc, which made for some exciting offense at times. His best performance came against Georgia when he made seven three-pointers en route to 23 overall.

If Jones can find some consistency, he can be a valuable piece of this Gators team. Golden’s usage of him could help Jones improve his stats and allow the younger guards to grow as the seasons unfolds.

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Where does Florida basketball stand? The Athletic breaks down current roster

The Athletic broke down Florida basketball’s current roster while giving fans an idea of what holes head coach Todd Golden is trying to fill.

New Florida head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] earned his first significant victory when he convinced center [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] to return for a fifth season. He was Florida’s leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker last season.

However, Golden still has a lot of recruiting left to do with three spots left on the Gators’ 2022-23 roster. The Athletic spoke with Golden about Castleton’s return while breaking down the state of Florida’s current roster.

Gators Online reported that the Gator Collective played a factor in Castleton’s decision to return. However, Golden also pitched that he would build the team around the big man and that the team would be good enough to make the NCAA tournament.

“That’s similar to Colin, where my thought was if he came back and bought into what we were doing, it would be much easier to build an NCAA Tournament roster around him,” Golden said. “That’s something he’s really passionate about accomplishing, after having a sour taste in his mouth last season.”

Golden added that he wanted to develop Castleton’s touch from deep because it’s a critical part of the offense.

The former San Francisco head coach spent a lot of energy and time on recruiting guard [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] to come back for another season. After transferring from Penn State, Jones struggled mightily to find his footing with the team. Golden believes the key to getting Jones back to the sniper he was with the Nittany Lions is rebuilding his confidence.

Another recruiting victory Florida and Golden earned was when Belmont guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] chose to transfer to Gainesville. He should immediately slot in as a starter or as the team’s sixth man.

The Gators will also return [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag], [autotag]CJ Felder[/autotag], [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], [autotag]Niels Lane[/autotag] and [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] while adding high school recruits [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag].

Reeves picked up his scoring quite a bit later in the season, averaging 16.3 points per game in the team’s final three contests after only scoring 5.5 earlier in the year. Felder had one of the team’s best plus-minus but only tallied the ninth-most minutes on the team. He should play a lot more next season given Golden’s emphasis on analytics.

Then The Athletic wrote that the Gators want to add a point guard or two and frontcourt depth. Florida’s targets in the backcourt include Bradley’s Terry Roberts, SMU’s Kendric Davis, Charlotte’s Jahmir Young and VMI’s Trey Bonham. Then its frontcourt prospects are LSU‘s Alex Fudge, Morehead State’s Johni Broome and Nevada’s Warren Washington.

Golden has made quite a bit of progress in retooling the Florida roster, so it can get back to the NCAA tournament next season.

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Here’s our early projection of Florida basketball’s 2021-22 starting lineup

Mike White did the hard work in the transfer portal over the offseason to bring together a team that has a real chance to outperform the 2020-21 squad. With Castleton back here’s our early projection of who will start for the Gators next season.

The Gators basketball team received fantastic news on Sunday afternoon.  Center Colin Castleton announced that he has withdrawn from consideration in the 2021 NBA draft and will return to the school for another season. He emerged from the transfer portal to become a big part of Florida’s identity last season, but many of the other centerpieces of last year’s squad will be missing.

Tre Mann, who was the team’s best player, entered the NBA draft and will not be returning. Noah Locke, who was a deadly catch-and-shoot weapon, transferred to Louisville. The Keyontae Johnson/Scottie Lewis duo is broken up as well; Lewis went pro and Johnson may not play basketball competitively again.

Head coach Mike White did the hard work in the transfer portal over the offseason to bring together a team that has a real chance to outperform the 2020-21 squad. Now that Castleton’s back, we’re ready to make an early projection at who will take the floor next season as Gators starters.

Here’s a first look at incoming Florida basketball transfers at summer workouts

Head coach Mike White brought in four experienced transfers to boost the Gators’ changes in the SEC during the 2021 season.

The Florida Gators, like many teams in college basketball, are experiencing a staggering amount of roster turnover this offseason. The increased activity around the league is due in large part to the NCAA’s ruling to make all transfers eligible to play immediately upon arriving with their new team in 2021. This is a big opportunity for players who are dissatisfied with the role they hold on their current team or simply think they can play for a better one.

Under the leadership of head coach Mike White, the Gators have been unafraid to plunder the transfer portal to buttress the team. Unsurprisingly, then, they were big players in the portal this offseason. They brought on a quartet of high-performing players looking for greener pastures.

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Friday, we got our first look at the new guys in Gators gear via the team Twitter account. The tweet highlights guard Brandon McKissic, guard Myreon Jones, forward CJ Felder, and guard/forward Phlandrous Fleming Jr., respectively.

All four seem to be in line to receive some real playing time in the upcoming season. McKissic and Fleming are both fifth-year seniors who came to Florida with one year of eligibility remaining but aren’t considered NBA prospects. Odds are that White convinced them playing time would be available for them because there probably isn’t a whole lot of basketball in their post-college future.

Jones is probably going to be the most impactful on the court next season. He was a high producer in the Big Ten, and while Fleming and McKissic were impressive in their respective leagues as well, Jones did it against tougher competition and with better efficiency.

The Gators are entering next season as a much more experienced group than when they began the last. In large part, that’s thanks to the upperclassmen they’re bringing to Gainesville via the transfer portal.

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A look at the Big Ten basketball steals leaders in 2020-21

In the latest installment of this series looking back at the best of the Big Ten from last season, I will be reviewing the leaders in set…

Despite frequent struggles last season on the offensive side of the ball, the Wisconsin Badgers played solid team defense throughout most of last year. Two players who exemplified that were guards Brad Davison and Jonathan Davis, who both made the top 15 in steals for this season. It was exciting to see two Badger players create turnovers at such a high-level last season, especially Davis, who was playing limited minutes as a true freshman.

Related: A look at the Big Ten basketball assists leaders in 2020-2021

Below is the ranking of the top 15 players in steals per game from the Big Ten Conference 2020-21 season. Players from Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan, Rutgers, Northwestern, Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland and Indiana have all made the list:

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Q&A with Nittany Lions Wire: Here’s what you need to know about Myreon Jones

The Gators brought in a former Penn State guard as a transfer, so let’s learn about him with our sister site, Nittany Lions Wire.

The Gators’ men’s basketball team has had a busy offseason already, just weeks into their months-long break between seasons. Head coach Mike White came through with a flurry of moves to swiftly plug as many of the holes on his roster as possible, and he’s down to just one vacancy now.

When the offseason began, however, the team’s most obvious need was for capable shooting guard play. White likes to play three-guard sets with two capable ball handlers and a true shooting guard, but the team was crippled after losing some major talent in the form of Noah Locke, Scottie Lewis, and Tre Mann.

Therefore, the focus of White’s moves this offseason has been to bolster the depth at the guard positions. Among the players he brought into the program was former Penn State guard Myreon Jones. One of the most sought-after players in the transfer portal, he was a well-known recruit who has made good on his potential during his college career.

We teamed up with Kevin McGuire of our sister site covering all things Penn State, Nittany Lions Wire, to bring you answers to some of the most pertinent questions about Jones and how he’ll fit into the Florida system next year.