Florida hoping to bounce back against FAMU after sloppy tournament performance
After an ugly performance at the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament in Portland, Oregon, that saw Florida drop two of three games, the Gators are back in the O’Connell Center for a three-game home stand and are hoping to kick things off with a win over Florida A&M Wednesday night.
The big story coming into this one is sophomore wing Kowacie Reeves, who played just eight minutes for Florida in the recent tournament. Head coach Todd Golden took responsibility for Reeves’ lack of minutes saying he lost track of the rotations and accidentally kept Reeves out of the game, but that isn’t clicking with everyone in Gator Nation.
Golden’s niche is tracking stats, and to think that he simply forgot about a player that shows tremendous upside and started the first four games for Florida just doesn’t seem believable. The first thing that comes to mind is that Reeves is being disciplined for something, but Golden has gone on record saying that there’s nothing punitive about the change in minutes. He also said that Reeves would be back on the court Wednesday night, so those who follow the team closely will want to keep an eye on when Reeves checks in and checks out against a fairly beatable opponent.
Speaking of Florida A&M, the Rattlers are off to a rough start this season. A 1-4 record leaves plenty to be desired, but the alarming statistic here is that FAMU was held to 54 points or less through its first three games of the year. The Rattlers put up 61 in a 26-point loss to Miami and 70 in a win over Albany State University, but it’s safe to say that scoring is not their forte.
FAMU might also struggle to contain Florida’s big man, Colin Castleton. The Rattlers lack a true big man to match up with Castleton’s height, which should get him back on track in the scoring column. His production plummeted in Portland and his scoring average dropped from a near 25 points per game to just under nine over the tournament. Still, Castleton has had back-to-back 30-point games this season against similar competition, so this would be his bounce-back game if ever there was one.
Florida enters the game as the heavy favorite and should come out victorious, but the margin of victory matters here. A 20-point win is expected and anything less could indicate bigger problems for the team. That said, expect Todd Golden to use this stretch to figure out his lineup and rotation issues.
Tip-off is at 8 p.m. EST in the O’Connell Center in Gainesville.
Projected Starting Lineups:
FLORIDA
Player | Pos | H/W | Class |
CJ Felder | F | 6-7 / 240 | Senior |
Colin Castleton | F | 6-11 / 250 | 5th Year |
G | 6-4 / 206 | Sophomore | |
G | 6-3 / 188 | Graduate | |
Trey Bonham | G | 6-0 / 170 | Junior |
FLORIDA A&M
Player | Pos | H/W | Class |
Jaylen Bates | F | 6-7 / 215 | Junior |
Chase Barrs | F | 6-9 / 210 | Senior |
Byron Smith | G | 6-2 / 185 | Junior |
Jordan Chatman | G | 6-5 / 208 | Sophomore |
Jordan Tillmon | G | 6-2 / 180 | Junior |
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