No. 23 Florida vs. Colgate
* When: Sunday, noon (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (7-4) / Colgate (6-5)
* Series/Last meeting: First meeting.
* TV: SEC Network+ (Ryan Urquhart and Patric Young)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
(with Sean Kelley, Brian Hogan and Steve Egan)
* Ticket info
Projected Starters
UF guard Xaivian Lee to the basket, with a nice clear-out from teammate Alex Condon, on his way to 18 points Wednesday night against Saint Francis.
Florida
Position
Height / Weight
Class
Statistics
Alex Condon
F
6-11 / 230
Junior
13.9 pts / 8.8 reb
Rueben Chinyelu
C
6-10 / 255
Junior
10.0 pts / 10.7 reb
Thomas Haugh
F
6-9 / 215
Junior
17.4 pts / 6.6 reb
Xaivian Lee
G
6-4 / 185
Senior
11.6 pts / 4.9 reb / 3.6 ast
Boogie Fland
G
6-3 / 185
Sophomore
11.9 pts / 2.0 reb
Colgate
Position
Height / Weight
Class
Statistics
Sam Wright
F
6-9 / 235
Junior
12.3 pts / 4.2 reb
Andrew Alekseyenko
F
6-9 / 230
Freshman
14.9 pts / 5.5 reb
Josh Ahayere
G
6-3 / 215
Sophomore
7.5 pts / 3.5 reb
Ben Tweedy
G
6-4 / 185
Sophomore
6.3 pts / 2.3 reb
Jalen Cox
G
6-3 / 180
Junior
16.0 pts / 5.2 reb / 5.5 ast
The Setup
Last game before Christmas: Season’s Greetings
No. 23 Florida takes on Colgate in the always-dangerous final game before the holiday break. With the Gators still searching for the best version of themselves and the Raiders in the top half of college basketball teams, per KenPom.com, this one fits the profile of a so-called “trap game.” UF is coming off Wednesday night’s 102-61 defeat of Saint Francis, which at No. 361 represented the lowest-rated opponent ever to appear on the schedule during the KenPom era (1996-97 to present). Colgate has not played a game in 11 days, with its last outing an 85-77 loss at St. Bonaventure that snapped a four-game winning streak.
Tale of the Tape
Sophomore point guard Boogie Fland
Florida
Statistics
Colgate
83.8
Scoring
77.5
.451
Field-goal percentage
.501
.278
3-point percentage
.338
71.8
Scoring defense
72.1
.401
Field-goal percentage defense
.413
.281
3-point percentage defense
.290
13th
KenPom.com overall ranking
167th
29th
KenPom.com offensive efficiency
147th
11th
KenPom.com defensive efficiency
208th
54th
KenPom.com adjusted tempo
263rd
26th
NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking
136th
13th
Overall strength of schedule ranking
96th
The Breakdown
UF backup guard Urban Klavzar
About the Gators: They’re back to No. 2 in offensive rebounding team in the country at 42.8%, behind only Tennessee at 44.6. UF also ranks 12th nationally on the defensive glass at 24.6%, which tops the SEC. … Guard Xaivian Lee has averaged 20.3 points on 54.5% shooting overall and 38.8% from the 3-point line over the last three games; over the past five games, his numbers are 17.0 points, 44.1 and 35.2%. Small sample sizes, you say? Well, so then were the first six games of 7.2 points, 22.1% overall and 16.6 from distance. Lee (knock wood) appears to have righted that troubling start to his UF career. … Thomas Haugh, the team’s scoring leader, failed to reach double-figure points for the first time this season against SFU. He had five points. … Center Rueben Chinyelu posted his fifth double-double, going 5-for-5 from the floor on his way to 12 points and 11 rebounds. … Forward Alex Condon had a stat-stuffing 14 points, seven boards, five assists and three blocks. … Point guard Boogie Fland, after going 0-for-7 from deep over the previous two games, scored 11 points, hit one of his two 3s and dished four assists. … The Florida bench poured in a season-high 42 points against Saint Francis, led by 7-1 center Micah Handlogten’s 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting and eight rebounds. Guard Urban Klavzar, after going two games without making a 3, hit a pair from deep and now has multiple 3s in seven games. Guard Isaiah Brown, who tied his season-high of nine points and had a second consecutive solid effort in reserve. … Look for redshirt sophomore guard Alex Kovatchev, the 6-5, 195-pound transfer from Sacramento State, to get a look with the top rotation guys after turning in some good late minutes versus SFU.
About the Raiders: They’re in the 15th season under Matt Langel, a former Ivy League guard at Penn who has guided the program to 247 wins and five NCAA Tournament berths, all ending in first-round exits. Of the non-power conference opponents on the UF schedule, the Raiders, out of the Patriot League, are by far the highest rated, by a factor of more than 100 spots per KenPom. … What Colgate does best is not beat itself, checking in at No. 35 in the nation in turnover percentage (14.4). The Raiders shoot a robust 50.1% overall to go with 33.8 from the 3-point line, but they struggle on the glass, which should be a big area for UF to exploit. … Guard Jalen Cox and forwards Andrew Alekseyenko and Sam Wright are highly efficient 2-point area scorers at 57.6, 56.3 and 65%, respectively. Cox, who had 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the St. Bonnie’s loss, is rated in the nation’s top 75 in assist rate (31.9%) and top 100 in steal percentage (4.1). … The first player off the bench is guard Kyle Carlesimo (8.6 ppg, 39% from 3), the son of longtime NBA and college coach PJ Carlesimo, who led Seton Hall to the 1989 NBA championship game. The elder Carlesimo left college and was head coach at Portland, Golden State, Seattle/Oklahoma City and Brooklyn over nine seasons from 1994 to 2013.
Numbers of Note
* 1 —Wins needed by Golden to move into sole possession of eighth place on Florida’s all-time victory list. Golden, in his fourth season, has 83 wins and is currently tied with John Lotz (1973-80) for eighth place among UF’s 20 coaches, dating to 1915.
* 16 — Points scored by Langel, the Colgate coach, against the Gators in their March 11, 1999 victory over Penn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at old Key Arena in Seattle. Langel started at guard for the Quakers, hit six of eight shots, including four of six from the 3-point line, and was the second-high scorer for the game. Florida won 75-61, led by 15 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Brent Wright, as well as 15 points and seven boards by freshman forward Mike Miller.
* 81.3 — Florida’s shooting percentage in the 2-point area against Saint Francis, based on its 26 of 32 performance, marking the highest by a UF team since hitting 82.5% (33 of 40) in a season-opening 112-73 defeat of Montana on Nov. 25, 2003.
Bottom Line
The best parting gift for Christmas break is (always) a successful holiday send-off.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at [email protected]. Find his story archives here.
