Tag: Will Richard

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s win vs Missouri Tigers

Big win over Mizzou! Here are some of the best highlights.

Florida basketball made it three in a row on Saturday afternoon inside the O’Connell Center with a win over the No. 20-ranked Missouri Tigers, 73-64. Not only was the victory the third straight for the Gators, giving them a 3-2 record in Southeastern Conference play.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] led the Orange and Blue with 18 points but it was [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag]’s well-balanced effort — 16 points along with 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks — that fueled the home team’s drive. For the visitors, Kobe Brown spearheaded Mizzou’s attack with 21 points along, six rebounds and five steals in the losing effort. Florida now moves to 10-7 overall while Missouri falls to 13-4 having dropped two of its last three.

Take a look below at some of the best photographs from the Gators’ home win over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.

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 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.

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.

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.

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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Florida blown out by WVU in Phil Knight Legacy Tournament 5th-place game

It looks like the honeymoon is over for Todd Golden in Gainesville. Florida suffered one of its ugliest losses in a while against West Virginia on Sunday night.

Florida basketball suffered a brutal 29-point loss to West Virginia on Sunday night to finish sixth in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] scored a quick five points to get Florida out to a hot start, but it was all downhill from there. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] ran into foul trouble. So did his backup. Suddenly, Florida was down double digits and scrambling to keep the game close at the half. A nine-point deficit at the break seemed merciful at the time, but West Virginia went for the early dagger in the second half.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 20-point lead with nearly 16 minutes left to play and never looked back. Florida heaved up contested layups in hopes of scoring. Many were batted away. The bigs were too scared to fight for a rebound after a first half filled with whistles, and WVU ran away with things to a near 30-point win and a 2-1 finish at the tournament.

For Florida, the honeymoon of the Golden era is over. There are serious problems with this team, and the coaching moves haven’t brought any noticeable change aside from personnel. If there’s one thing Gator Nation cares about, it’s winning, and the Gators don’t look like a winning club right now.

Here are five thoughts following an embarrassing loss to close the holiday weekend.

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.

PHOTOS: Florida basketball’s bounce-back win over Oregon State

Take a look at some highlights from the men’s basketball team’s big win on Friday evening.

Florida basketball got back on the winning track on Friday evening against the Oregon State Beavers with an 81-68 win in the consolation game of the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland, Oregon. The Gators went wire-to-wire in this one, scoring the first nine points before prevailing by a double-digit margin.

[autotag]Tre Bonham[/autotag] led the way for the Orange and Blue with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists while [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag], [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] and [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag] also finished in double-digits scoring with 13, 12 and 10 points respectively. The comfortable lead throughout the game allowed [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] to use his bench liberally, giving 10 players time on the court.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida’s fourth win of the season coming on the other side of the country against Oregon State.