Gators looking to bounce back against Georgia
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators men’s basketball team (7-7, 0-2 SEC) hosts the Georgia Bulldogs (11-3, 1-0 SEC) on Saturday afternoon at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
After a home loss against Texas A&M, the Gators are looking to avoid their second straight 0-3 start in conference play.
The meeting between Florida and Georgia marks the first time Mike White will face off against his former team.
UF leads the all-time series 120-103 and has six straight wins over Georgia going into Saturday. However, the Gators are on a three-game skid while the Bulldogs just took down No. 22 Auburn for their fourth straight victory.
Although neither team is in the picture for the NCAA Tournament at the moment, a win for either would be crucial for SEC standings.
“They are a team that’s gotten a little confident playing through what I would call an average schedule the first part of the year. But they’ve stacked some wins and felt pretty good about themselves,” UF head coach Todd Golden said of the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s players to watch
After leaving Florida to take the Georgia head coaching position, Mike White went to the transfer portal to build his new squad. There, he found first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference guard Terry Roberts out of Bradley.
Now in Athens, Roberts leads the Bulldogs with an average 15 points, 4.2 assists, and 1.8 steals. Those numbers are better than they were at Bradley.
“He’s a scorer but also a playmaker,” Golden said of Roberts. “He gets a lot of assists as well so we’ve got to be mindful of that. I think one of the things he does is he makes his teammates better. He finds his shooters so we’ve got to be thoughtful of that so at times we might not necessarily allow him to score but make him make some tougher twos over us as opposed to helping off shooters and doing those things.”
White was also able to keep a few players to stick around for his first season with the Bulldogs including Kario Oquendo and Braelen Bridges.
Oquendo is right behind Roberts in the backcourt averaging 14.5 points per game while Bridges leads the team with an average 4.3 rebounds while shooting 57.5% from the floor.
How Gators make it seven straight over UGA
With White’s return to Gainesville, this one seems to have a little bit more passion behind it on top of it being a conference game.
Perhaps that’s the fire Colin Castleton needs to help the Gators get a win and on track in the SEC race.
Georgia is No. 225 in the country in KenPom’s adjusted tempo rankings compared to Florida’s No. 48 ranking.
UF failed to control the tempo of its matchup with Texas A&M and committed 20 turnovers. The Georgia defense will be keen to give the Florida ball handlers trouble on Saturday.
Playing at a fast pace and consistently hitting shots on the outside are two keys for the Gators to find their first SEC win of the season.
It will certainly be a scene in the O’Dome for White’s return.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
