How to watch: Florida Gators vs. Wake Forest basketball
The Florida basketball team is getting a heavy dose of ACC competition in the early part of the season. And so far, the Gators have handled themselves well.
Florida is 2-1 in three games against teams from that league.
The Gators have beaten Florida State (89-68) and Pittsburgh (86-71), while losing to Virginia (73-70).
Now, they’re set to face ACC opponent No. 4 — Wake Forest — in the inaugural SEC/ACC Challenge at Winston-Salem, N.C. That game is 7:15 p.m. Wednesday on ESPNU, and it will also be streaming on fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
The Gators enter this game coming off a 95-91 loss to Baylor, which now is 6-0 and ranked No. 9 in the country. In defeat, Florida looked the part of an NCAA Tournament team.
Sophomore guard Riley Kugel had 25 points and nine rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field for only the second time this season. Meanwhile, forward Tyrese Samuel, the Seton Hall transfer, continued his strong play by contributing 18 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Florida played without injured starting center Micah Handlogten. It’s not known yet when he will return to the lineup.
“He’s getting there,” Gators coach Todd Golden said this week. “Obviously, an ankle deal. He’s working hard to get back. Anticipate him giving it a go at practice today and see what it looks like and we’ll kind of make it a game-time decision tomorrow.”
Worth noting, Florida, now 4-2, was without its full lineup for both of its losses. At full strength, the Florida Gators destroyed an FSU team at home that now is 4-1.
What kind of opponent is Wake Forest (3-3)?
“They’re pretty standard,” Golden said. “They do play two bigs a lot. One of them, Andrew Carr, can make some 3s, so he’s a guy we have to mindful of. A lot of good perimeter scorers. They have three guys who can really put it on the deck and score, with catch and shoot 3s and make shots, so we have to be super mindful of those guys as well. But it’s a good offensive team and they’re going to challenge us for sure.”
Wake Forest isn’t nearly as deep as Florida, but the Demon Deacons have four players who average 15 or more points a game. Junior guard Hunter Sallis leads the way at 18.3. Wake Forest makes 47 percent of its shots and 36 percent from 3-point range.
The team’s losses have come to Georgia, Utah and LSU (in overtime).
