No. 10 Florida vs. Florida State

 
* When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (1-1) / Florida State (2-0)
* Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 47-29. The Gators have won four straight, most recently an 87-74 victory at Tallahassee on Nov. 15, 2024. In that one, senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. poured in 25 points on eight of 15 shooting, with four 3-pointers, while backcourt mate Alijah Martin added 17 points and six rebounds. UF dominated FSU on the glass, 47-29, with sophomore forward Alex Condon leading the way with a game-high 12 rebounds. 
* TV: SEC Network (Roy Philpott and Richard Hendrix)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
  (with Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan) 
* Ticket info

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Projected Starters

 

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Condon	F	6-11 / 230	Junior	18.0 pts / 9.0 reb
Rueben Chinyelu	C	6-10 / 255	Junior	6.0 pts / 5.0 reb
Thomas Haugh	F	6-9 / 215	Junior	19.5 pts / 6.0 reb
Xaivian Lee	G	6-4 / 185	Senior	12.0 pts / 4.5 reb / 4.5 ast
Boogie Fland	G	6-3 / 185	Sophomore	9.5 pts / 3.0 reb / 3.0 ast

Florida State	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Chauncey Wiggins	F	6-10 / 225	Senior	17.0 pts / 5.0 reb
Alex Steen	F	6-9 / 230	Senior	10.5 pts / 7.0 reb
Lajae Jones	F	6-7 / 220	Senior	19.0 pts / 6.5 reb
Kobe MaGee	G	6-5 / 207	Senior	12.5 pts / 4.0 reb
Robert McCray V	G	6-4 / 188	Senior	12.0 pts / 5.0 reb / 11.0 ast

The Setup

Remember the Florida fanbase’s frustration during the Seminoles’ run of seven consecutive victories in the series from 2014-20? The longest such streak by either team in the history of the series that dates to 1951? Well, the Gators have won four in a row, are 3-0 under Coach Todd Golden and are favorites to make it five as FSU transitions from the offseason retirement of Leonard Hamilton — 23 seasons, 460 wins, 8 NCAA Tournament appearances — to Luke Loucks, who was a standout walk-on for “Coach Ham” before carving out a nine-year career as an assistant in the NBA. UF fell seven spots from No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, courtesy of its high-profile 93-87 season-opening against 13th-ranked Arizona at Las Vegas, but the Gators bounced back with a 104-64 smashing of North Florida in their home opener Thursday. FSU, meanwhile, got the Loucks era off to a bang by scoring more than 100 points in each of its first two games, the last being Friday’s 101-64 caving of Alcorn State.

Tale of the Tape

 

Florida	Statistics	Florida State
95.5	Scoring	104.5
.464	Field-goal percentage	.514
.220	3-point percentage	.403
78.5	Scoring defense	70.0
.402	Field-goal percentage defense	.422
.273	3-point percentage defense	.321
5th	KenPom.com overall ranking	78th
6th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	67th
8th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	97th
12th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	59th
N/A	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	N/A
N/A	Overall strength of schedule ranking	N/A

The Breakdown 

The Gators: They did what was expected in their last outing, hammering UNF, but Coach Todd Golden and his troops will feel a lot better if they can put together an elite performance against a high-major opponent just eight days after getting beaten up against an excellent team at Las Vegas. UF got knocked around in the paint that night, so bodying up against the Seminoles will be a prerequisite. … Through two games, Florida is one of the nation’s worst 3-point shooting teams at 22% (that’s 335th nationally), but the Gators are making 62% of shots from the 2-point area. Point guard Boogie Fland is averaging a mere 3.0 assists, but that number is a reflection of the team’s poor outside shooting. Fland, for his part, has drawn praise from the coaches for his running of the offense. Plus, he’s played 57 minutes without a turnover. Fland, like the rest of his teammates, has been cold from the floor, missing all five of his 3s. … Forward Alex Condon scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a bounce-back performance against the Ospreys. He’ll face a lot more size against FSU, but the same can be said about the Seminoles, who also will have to deal with 7-1 backup center Micah Handlogten (14.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg) and starting center Rueben Chinyelu, who has been mostly quiet early in the season. … Thomas Haugh is shooting 50% from the floor, but just 3-for-10 from the arc in his first couple games playing the “3” spot. … Guard Xaivian Lee leads the team in 3-point makes with five, but he’s just 5-for-18 from distance (26%) and only 32% overall. … Freshmen CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd both hit 3s in their home collegiate debuts against UNF.  

 

The Seminoles: The Seminoles, who finished 17-15 last season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, went into total rebuild mode under the new regime, with Loucks signing seven transfers after losing the bulk of his potential returnees to the portal. … Through two games, all five starters are averaging in double figures, led by guard LaJae Jones, who is shooting 75% from the floor and 3-point line. In fact, all five FSU starters are shooting above 50% so far, but the Seminoles have not seen a front line (or all-around defense) as formidable as Florida’s. … Point guard Robert McCray V, by way of Jacksonville, had quit the FSU debut, carding a school-record 17 assists against Alcorn, topping the previous mark of 16 set 53 years ago by Otto Petty. He has just five turnovers through the first two games. … Reserve freshman guard Cam Miles, out of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, is averaging 7.5 points and looms as a potential foundation for the program. 

 

Numbers of Note 

* 15 —Points scored by Loucks (along with four rebounds and four assists) in his last game as a player against the Gators, who defeated the Seminoles 82-64 at Gainesville on Dec. 22, 2011. FSU went on to win the ACC Tournament that year and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  

* 56th — Where Florida State ranks nationally in 3-point shooting. Yeah, it’s a small sample size, but the Seminoles are 18% better than the Gators from distance. 

* 87.5 — Handlogten’s field-goal percentage through two games, based on 12 of 14 from the floor. He also leads the SEC in rebounding, including 7.0 on the offensive end. His 29.7 offensive-rebounding percentage is currently fifth in the nation.

 

Bottom Line

This game is Part I of a two-part challenge over the next five days against the state’s two other marquee programs, with a neutral-site game looming Sunday against rebuilding Miami at Jacksonville, which will mark a third game in four to start the season against power-conference opponents.

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