Florida vs. UConn: How to watch, betting lines, game notes

The No. 18 Florida Gators (5-3) face their second straight top-five opponent — and third of the season — on Tuesday. UF takes on No. 5 UConn (8-1) at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Florida returns for the first time in seven years, making its fourth appearance in the Jimmy V Classic and first under Todd Golden. Last season, Golden became the youngest coach since Jim Valvano in 1983 to win a national championship.

How to watch Florida against UConn

When: Tuesday, Dec. 9
Where: Madison Square Garden (19,763) | New York City, N.Y.
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV | Stream: ESPN | ESPN app
On the call: Play-by-Play: Dan Shulman, Analyst: Jay Bilas, Reporter: Kris Budden

BetMGM odds for Gators vs. Huskies

Spread: UConn -4.5
Over/Under: 146.5 points
Moneyline: UConn -210, Florida +170

Odds courtesy of BetMGM, the official betting partner of On3.

Florida Gators projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
1	Boogie Fland	Guard	6-3, 185 pounds	So.	30.3	12.5	2.3	2.1 ast
15	Xaivian Lee	Guard	6-4, 180 pounds	Sr.	27.5	8.4	4.8	3.6 ast
10	Thomas Haugh	Forward	6-9, 215 pounds	Jr.	35.0	18.6	7.6	2.8 ast
21	Alex Condon	Forward	6-11, 230 pounds	Jr.	30.2	15.1	9.0	3.0 ast
9	Rueben Chinyelu	Center	6-10, 260 pounds	Jr.	24.4	10.3	11.3	0.8 blk

UConn Huskies projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
2	Silas Demary Jr.	Guard	6-4, 195 pounds	Jr.	26.2	10.4	4.7	5.6 ast
1	Solo Ball	Guard	6-4, 200 pounds	Jr.	27.7	14.6	3.6	1.9 3fg
3	Jaylin Stewart	Forward	6-7, 225 pounds	Jr.	23.6	6.3	4.0	2.2 ast
11	Alex Karaban	Forward	6-8, 230 pounds	R-Sr.	33.0	13.4	5.8	2.3 ast
12	Eric Reibe	Center	7-1, 260 pounds	Fr.	20.1	9.7	4.9	1.4 blk

Todd Golden on UConn

“They’re obviously a really good backcourt. They run really good stuff. Their half-court offense is hard to guard. They play less out of ball screens than most teams and more out of staggers and pins and misdirection, which is unique. Silas, his assist-rate right now is really high. He’s making a lot of the plays for them, finding the shooters. Solo’s still scoring, still trying to pick his spots that way. He’s been more effective from two than three this year, which is a little surprising. He’s finishing better, not shooting as well. But I think that’s probably a little fluky. He’s still a great shooter on the move, and we’re still going to treat him as such. But a big part of winning (Tuesday) night’s game is doing a good job on both those guys.”

Game notes

* Florida’s run to the national title included a second-round win vs. UConn in Raleigh that saw UF rally from a 52-46 deficit with nine minutes to play. The Florida Gators outscored the Huskies 26-12 over the next 8:20 and survived UConn’s late push. Walter Clayton Jr. scored 15 of his game-high 23 points during that second-half run.

* Florida holds an all-time 29-67 record vs. top-5 opponents, including 6-4 under Todd Golden. The Gators are facing back-to-back top-5 opponents for the third time under Golden. In addition to last season’s Final Four and national championship wins (No. 4 Auburn, No. 2 Houston), Florida split a back-to-back set at No. 5 Kansas State (L, 50-64, 1/28/23) and vs. No. 2 Tennessee (W, 67-54, 2/1/23) in Golden’s first season at UF.

* The Florida Gators hold a 3-5 all-time record in regular season neutral-site games vs. top-5 opponents, with two of those wins coming in Madison Square Garden (11/29/02 vs. No. 2 Kansas; 11/28/03 vs. No. 4 Arizona). The most recent such victory came in Atlantic City (11/27/09 vs. #2 Michigan State).

* Florida’s frontcourt has 12 double-doubles this season, including four each from Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon. Chinyelu had a streak of three in a row (FSU, Miami, Merrimack) that included a 21-rebound performance vs. Merrimack, the most rebounds by a Gator in 43 years and tied the O’Dome record (Eugene McDowell, 21 vs. Georgia, 1/6/1982).

* Chinyelu’s 11.3 rebounds per game are setting a pace on the boards that no Gator has hit in 50 years. Florida last had a double-digit rebounder over a full season with Bob Smyth’s 12.7 average in 1975-76.

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