No. 10 Florida vs. Miami

 
* What: Jacksonville Hoops Showdown
* When: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (ET)
* Where: VyStar Memorial Arena / Jacksonville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (2-1) / Miami (3-0)
* Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 47-24. The Gators defeated the Hurricanes 78-58 in the winner’s bracket of the Charleston (S.C.) Classic on Nov. 22, 2019, on the way to winning their first holiday tournament in 11 years. Fifth-year senior transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for his fourth double through the season’s first six games. Freshman Scottie Lewis came off the bench for 13 points and eight boards. Sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard had eight points, nine assists and four steals. UF shot 54% for the game and 10-for-19 from the 3-point line, while holding the Hurricanes to 33% after halftime and turning 14 turnovers into 21 points. The Gators advanced to the tournament title game, where they defeated Xavier 70-65.
* TV: ESPN (Dave O’Brien and Jay Williams)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
  (with Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan) 
* Ticket info

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Projected Starters

[Embed photo]
 

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Condon	F	6-11 / 230	Junior	16.3 pts / 8.0 reb
Rueben Chinyelu	C	6-10 / 255	Junior	8.7 pts / 7.3 reb
Thomas Haugh	F	6-9 / 215	Junior	19.7 pts / 8.3 reb
Xaivian Lee	G	6-4 / 185	Senior	11.0 pts / 5.3 reb / 5.0 ast
Boogie Fland	G	6-3 / 185	Sophomore	12.3 pts / 3.7 reb /

Miami	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Malik Reneau	F	6-9 / 238	Senior	21.3 pts / 6.0 reb
Ernest Udeh	C	6-11 / 266	Senior	8.7 pts / 9.0 reb
Shelton Henderson	F	6-6 / 240	Freshman	12.3 pts / 4.7 reb
Tru Washington	G	6-4 / 204	Junior	14.0 pts / 3.7 reb
Tre Donaldson	G	6-3 / 198	Senior	16.3 pts / 3.7 reb / 6.0 ast

The Setup

No. 10 Florida takes on its third power-conference opponent in four games to open the 2025-26 season — its second on a neutral floor — when the Gators face the Miami Hurricanes, under new coach Jai Lucas, in their second appearance in as many seasons in the Jacksonville Hoops Showdown. ESPN grabbed the game because of its late tip-off time, which was necessary because the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars are playing host to the Los Angeles Chargers in a 1 p.m. game at EverBank Stadium, just across the parking lot at the downtown sports complex site. UF is coming off a down-to-the wire 78-76 home victory Tuesday night over rival Florida State. UM, meanwhile, defeated Stetson 102-61 to stay unbeaten, with all three of its games played in Coral Gables against low-major in-state opponents. 
 

Tale of the Tape

 

Florida	Statistics	Miami
89.7	Scoring	96.3
.442	Field-goal percentage	.569
.211	3-point percentage	.352
77.7	Scoring defense	63.7
.379	Field-goal percentage defense	.370
.269	3-point percentage defense	.262
10th	KenPom.com overall ranking	59th
17th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	60th
10th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	61st
7th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	93rd
N/A	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	N/A
121st	Overall strength of schedule ranking	334th

The Breakdown 

The Gators: They struggled putting the ball in the basket in the win over the Seminoles, converting just 39% from the floor and only six of 31 shots from the 3-point line. The veteran front court, however, seized on its size and length advantage by out-rebounding FSU 58-34 and limiting the Seminoles’ uptempo, 3-point offense to just 33.8% overall and 9-for-34 from deep (26.5%). The game likely would not have come down to the final minute had the Gators taken better care of the ball (18 turnovers) in allowing the Seminoles to chip away at a nine-point deficit and have a chance in the final minute. … UF is still searching for its identity after Thomas Haugh on offense, especially when it comes to outside shooting. Haugh, who played 38 minutes against FSU and never came out after halftime, is hitting nearly 49% of his field-goal attempts and actually leads the team in 3-point shooting but at just 31.3%. That’s because the rest of the team is a collective (ready for this?) 18.9% from deep, with shooting guard Xavian Lee is just six of 29 (20.7%), point guard Boogie Fland two of 12 (16.7%) and backup guard Urban Klavzar at 3-for-14 (21.4%). … Forward Alex Condon, the preseason first-team All American, has improved his shooting efficiency from the floor (59.3%) and free-throw line (73.9%), but leads the team in turnovers with 13. He had six each in the games against Arizona and FSU. … Center Rueben Chinyelu had one of the best games of in his two seasons as a Gator, with 10 points, a career-best 16 rebounds (seven on the offensive end) and two blocks. … Backup 7-1 center Micah Handlogten (10.3 ppg, 9.3 ppg) went scoreless against the Seminoles, but his six rebounds in just under 10 minutes made him one of six Gators with at least five boards. … Of UF’s five starters, Chinyelu was the only one who didn’t play at least 32 minutes against FSU. … Of the 79 teams in power conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern), Florida and Alabama are the only ones to schedule at least three other power conference opponents in their first four games of the season. Only nine others scheduled as many as two. 

The Hurricanes: Like FSU in its first season under Luke Loucks, Miami under Lucas also went into serious rebuild mode, with four of its starters coming via the transfer portal, but also signing some nice freshman complimentary pieces. The Hurricanes have been highly efficient offensively in their first three games in converting at 66% from the 2-point area, but also taking advantage against a trio of over-matched Sunshine State opponents in Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman and Stetson. UM’s average victory margin has been nearly 33 points. … In Florida’s season-opening loss to Arizona, both power forward Koa Peat (30 points) and point guard Jaden Bradley (27 points) punished the Gators by getting downhill against their smaller guards and finishing around the rim. Florida State’s Robert McCray V (29 points) did the same. Guess what? Forward Malik Reneau, the Indiana transfer and one-time UF commitment under then-coach Mike White, and Michigan (by way of Auburn) point guard Tre Donaldson will be on the attack and trying to exploit the UF defense the same way. Reneau is at 64% from the floor (attempting only three 3s) and 17-for-20 at the free throw line (85%). Donaldson is shooting 56.7% overall and 14-for-17 at the line (82.4%). … UM doesn’t shoot a lot of 3s, just 18 per game, with only 19 makes (at 35.2%). Of those makes, freshman guard Timotej Malovec has eight and guard Tru Washington (transfer from New Mexico) has five. Those two combined are 13-for-21 from the arc (61.9%). … Center Ernest Udeh Jr., who starred on the 2021 Orlando Dr. Phillips Class 7A state championship team alongside former Gators Riley Kugel and Denzel Aberdeen, is shooting 91.7% from the floor (11 of 12), without attempting a free throw.

 

Numbers of Note 

* 20 — Years since the Gators defeated Florida State and Miami in the same season. It was during the 2005-06 season, the first of UF’s back-to-back national-championship campaigns. The Gators played both teams in the ’08-09, ’14-15, ’15-16, ’16-17 and ’19-20 seasons, but managed only splits, at best, including a pair of sweeps. 

* 376 —Days since UF last played at VyStar Memorial Arena. The Gators opened the ’24-25 season with a 98-83 defeat of South Florida at Jacksonville, where they had to erase a 13-point first-half deficit and rallied behind 29 points from point guard Walter Clayton Jr. and a career-high 25 from sidekick guard Will Richard. Florida scored 54 second-half points, behind 62.5% shooting and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

* 2007-08 — The season Miami coach Jai Lucas, a 5-10, 160-pound McDonald’s All-America freshman point guard out of Houston, started all 36 games for the Gators and averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 assists for a team that went 24-12 and lost in the semifinals of the NIT. Lucas transferred to Texas that offseason. He started just one game during two seasons with the Longhorns, averaging 2.9 points over his 58 games, then quit to pursue a professional career overseas.

 

Bottom Line

Is this the game the Gators become a gang that can shoot straight?

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.