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Michael Pfeffer lives in Knoxville, TN with his wife and daughter. Growing up in South Florida, he has been a lifelong Florida Gators fan. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with his family and volunteering at church and with a prison ministry.
  • FB: Previewing the Opponent: Florida State

    FB: Previewing the Opponent: Florida State

    Florida vs Florida State

    11.24.18 / 12:00 PM

    Doak Campbell Stadium

    ABC

    Rivalry week is here and that means the Gators will face the hated Florida State Seminoles. Both teams have first year head coaches who are looking to take their first step towards supremacy in the Sunshine Showdown.

    Dan Mullen has had both experience and success in this series as Florida’s offensive coordinator. During his tenure, the Gators never lost to State. With Saturday’s game, he will be attempting to continue his winning ways by putting an end to the longest losing streak the Gators have ever faced in the series.

    On the other sideline, Willie Taggart has been embattled in his first year and the Seminoles are in danger of missing bowl eligibility for the first time in 37 years. A win for the Seminoles, would go a long way for Taggart in proving that he wasn’t just a desperation hire.

    On paper, Florida State has the more talented roster. One that has been filled by top 5 classes and blue chip recruits. In reality, this year’s team has struggled with even the weakest opposition.

    Florida State has lost four games by 19 or more points this season and has looked lost and confused in those losses. They are however, coming off of a win over a ranked opponent and now have the added motivation of a potential bowl berth.

    The Gators will have plenty of motivation for this game as well. Ending the streak, earning a New Year’s Six bowl, and validating this season as more than a fluke will be at the top of the list.

    The Gators will be facing a talented and dangerous defensive front on Saturday. Getting a good push off the line to open rushing lanes will be crucial to the Gators offensive success.

    Florida State Seminoles

    Tallahassee, FL

    Enrollment: 33,008

    2018 record: 5-6

    Head coach: Willie Taggart

    State will likely be loading the box with 8 defenders and trying to put the game in the hands of Feleipe Franks. Not a bad strategy when facing a quarterback who, though much improved, has had a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde season.

    Florida’s defensive front should be able to apply pressure in droves against one of the most porous offensive lines in the country. Deondre Francois has been sacked so many times this season that he has -25 yards through 67 rushing attempts.

    There is much at stake for these two coaches and their respective programs. Both teams will be ready to punch the other in the mouth and leave it all on the field. The storyline for this game runs much deeper than the 12 p.m. kickoff would suggest.

    Currently, the Gators are a 4.5 point favorite and should cover with ease.

    They have out gained their opposition in 7 of their last 9 games. As the game wears on, I expect to see FSU’s defensive depth put to the test.

    Dan Mullen should be able to win this game just by out coaching Willie Taggart. But coaches can only do so much. In the end, Mullen’s team will have to execute and perform with relentless effort.

    With so much on the line, something tells me the boys of ol’ Florida will be ready to run through a brick wall for coach Mullen on Saturday.

    You can watch the game live from Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast on ABC and as always, you can follow along with all of the action on the ChompTalk.com Facebook and Twitter accounts.

  • MBB: Gators cruise past Stanford in Battle 4 Atlantis

    MBB: Gators cruise past Stanford in Battle 4 Atlantis

    FINAL: FLORIDA 72, STANFORD 49

    1st 2nd OT FINAL
    STANFORD 13 36 X 49
    GATORS 32 40 X 72

    Nassau, Bahamas- One day after a disappointing loss to Oklahoma to open the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, the Gators came out with a solid all-around effort and cruised to victory after taking a commanding first half lead over Stanford on Thursday.

    Florida improved to 3-2 while the Cardinal fell to 2-3.

    Game Trends

    The contest opened with an offensive struggle. Florida set the tone defensively from the start as the Gators forced Daejon Davis into a turnover on the Cardinal’s first offensive set. The two teams reached the first media timeout with a score of 2-0 UF. The Gators shot only 1-9 to that point, but had held Stanford to 0-5.

    The Cardinal got to within three points of Florida at 7-4 with 13:20 in the half, but Florida went on a 25-9 to take a 32-13 lead into the locker room.

    Stanford would be unable to close the gap in the second half as the two teams would mostly exchanges baskets and mini-runs.

    Fast Facts

    • Sophomore guard Deaundre Ballard led Florida with a career high 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including 3-5 from deep.
    • Senior guard KeVaughn Allen (13) and freshman guard Noah Locke (11) were the only other Gators to score in double-figures.
    • Locke was starting his first career game, this is the first time since 2016 that UF has started two freshmen.
    • Jalen Hudson did not start and saw very limited minutes for Mike White’s squad. Hudson scored four points in the Oklahoma loss, and it’s possible White was making a statement, but we haven’t heard anything official as of yet.
    • Florida shot 7-15 (46%) from deep, something this team must do well with such a deep backcourt.
    • The Gators shot 7-10 from the charity stripe, one day after make only three of eleven attempts against Oklahoma.

    TEAM STATS:

    STANFORD GATORS
    FG % 37 52
    3-PT % 36 47
    FT % 75 70
    Offensive Rebounds 5 8
    Total Rebounds 26 31
    Assists 10 10
    Steals 2 15
    Blocks 2 3
    Turnovers 20 11
  • FB: Recapping Dan Mullen’s Monday press conference

    FB: Recapping Dan Mullen’s Monday press conference

    Photo via Getty Images

    Dan Mullen met with the press on Monday for his weekly press conference. With the Florida State game ahead, topics were mostly centered around the rivalry.

    The weekly injury update basically remained unchanged other than individual status. Brett Heggie will enter the weekend with a hopeful designation, as will Brad Stewart who has been struggling with a quad strain.

    Last week’s game against Idaho was supposed to see the return of Freddie Swain but the staff opted to rest him instead. He will be ready to go versus the Seminoles on Saturday.

    Center, Nick Buchanan missed last week as he served a single game suspension. In his place, Tyler Jordan got the start due to backup, TJ McCoy enduring concussion protocols.

    This weekend’s game already carries plenty of motivation, in that Florida has the chance to make a New Years Six bowl game and the opportunity to knock FSU out of bowl eligibility. If that wasn’t enough, there’s the added element of loathing to fuel the fire.

    Rivalries are part of the life blood of college football and the Gators and Seminoles have one hell of a rivalry. Mullen was asked about the importance of this game. His response, spoke to the level of understanding he has for how much this game means to the fans.

    “Oh, yeah! I mean, it’s huge. You know? I mean, every year it’s huge. You know, when you get in these games… I mean, you’re talking about, alright? Because when you’re talking in-state rivals, I mean, you’re talking a lot of neighbors against neighbors. You wanna have… you know, you go to the grocery store you wanna have bragging rights over your neighbors for the year. And so to get that win, it gives the Gator Nation the bragging rights over all of State’s fans.”

    Much of this season actually hinges upon defeating FSU. The Seminoles have won five in a row for the first time in the series history and the Florida faithful are desperate to end that streak.

    Many continue to look to the Gators bench with great anticipation, regardless of how well or poorly Feleipe Franks plays. Since the short appearance in the Georgia game, fans have clamored for Emory Jones to see the field. Many feel he would be an invaluable weapon in taking down the hated Seminoles.

    When asked when a decision would be made about whether or not Jones will play in Saturday’s game, Mullen was as coy as usual.

    “Uhhhhhh, some point during the game?” He quipped. “You know, a lot of it… you know in my deal we gotta prepare for him to play. Right? Because he’s one… first off, he’s a snap away from not playing. From, from, he’s a snap away from being our starter. So we’re going to prepare for him to play and then during the game we’ll make the decision whether or not he goes in or not.”

    This rivalry has deep roots in the state and it can be deeply personal to the players, students, and fans. For the players, many of them grew up together and have played with and against each other all their lives. A win on Saturday will be a huge boost to the program and it’s future.

    “Well obviously. You know, I mean you wanna… it helps a lot because you finish on high notes with the season. You know, we have one more game after this with the bowl game, so. However it plays out, you self own more that the last game because you don’t get to play for a long time. But obviously, winning this game I think would be big for the guys that are on the team when you play in a rivalry game, just to say that ‘I beat them.’ For the seniors that, ‘I beat them in my last game.’ For the underclassmen, that we haven’t beat them in a while, to say, ‘Hey, we got a big win!”

    Dan Mullen knows what is at stake this Saturday and wants nothing more than to start a streak of his own while simultaneously ending FSU’s bowl streak. He will get his first opportunity this Saturday at noon.

  • VB: Gators Libero Allie Gregory named SEC Defensive Player of the Week

    VB: Gators Libero Allie Gregory named SEC Defensive Player of the Week

    Photo via Chomp Talk

    Florida junior libero Allie Gregory is the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her collegiate career.

    Gregory recorded 18 digs apiece in two weekend matches against LSU and Georgia, which puts her at an average of six digs per set. Gregory also added seven assists and an ace to her stat sheet this weekend.

    The Kentucky native ranks sixth in the NCAA in digs per set (4) and fifth in the SEC for conference play (4.25).

    The Gators have a big week ahead of them with two important matches to close out the regular season. On Wednesday, the team will take on Tennessee in Knoxville and on Friday, they’ll host South Carolina for the final game before the SEC Tournament.

  • VB: Gators down Bulldogs in three Sets

    VB: Gators down Bulldogs in three Sets

    Photo via Chomp Talk

    The Florida volleyball team is now 23-5 after sweeping the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens. This is the second time the Gators topped Georgia this season, with the first win going to five sets. The Gators are now 14-2 in the SEC.

    Set 1

    Florida easily outpaced the Bulldogs in this set, winning 25-12. The squad jumped out 8-4 early on. After a 12-6 run, the Gators were up 20-10. They finished the set off of two kills and capitalized on a flurry of Georgia errors.

    Florida hit .571 as a team, while holding the Dawgs to just .111. Rachael Kramer threw down six kills and Paige Hammons contributed two.

    Set 2

    The second frame was even easier for the Gators, as they topped Georgia 25-11. Allie Gregory‘s serving gave the team a strong start and finish. Gregory began the set with a five-point service run and closed it out with a four-pointer. Allie Monserez added another four points on serving and Paige Hammons pitched in three. For reference, that is 16 points just on serving.

    Other than the stellar serves, Florida’s hitting was below par at just .235. However, that was better than the Dawgs, who hit -.111 in the set. Rachael Kramer and Holly Carlton made three kills each.

    Set 3

    Georgia came back swinging and gave the Gators a run for their money. Florida was down 13-10 before legendary Coach Mary Wise called a timeout. After the TO, the squad battled back to a 14-13 lead. From then on, the set went point-for-point until the two teams deadlocked at 20-20. The Gators then went on a 5-0 run to close out the match.

    The squad made 7 kills during set 3, from Rachael Kramer (3), Paige Hammons (2), and Taelor Kellum (2).

    Gator Notables

    Junior Rachael Kramer controlled the court, hitting .667, a season best. Kramer also registered 11 kills and six monster blocks.

    Paige Hammons hit .357, making six kills on the afternoon. Taelor Kellum posted five kills, hitting .571 overall. Holly Carlton made five kills and blocks apiece.

    The Monserez sisters combined for 25 assists, with Allie dishing out 17 and Marlie adding eight.

    Allie Gregory dove for 18 digs, which led both teams.

    Up Next

    The Gators will head to Tennessee for their next match. Gametime is set for Wednesday at 5PM.

  • FB: Gators throttle Idaho on Senior Day, 63-10

    FB: Gators throttle Idaho on Senior Day, 63-10

    Florida 63, Idaho 10

    Photo via Getty Images

    Gainesville, FL – Things went according to plan on Saturday afternoon as the Gators dismantled the Idaho Vandals. It was a great send off for the twenty seniors in this year’s class and a perfect opportunity to get experience for the younger players.

    Florida has had trouble with slow starts this season, scoring just 33 points in the first quarter entering today’s game. In fact, they hadn’t scored a touchdown in the opening quarter since their trip to Rocky Top on September 22nd. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, made sure that wasn’t the case in what will likely be his final game in the Swamp.

    Idaho took the field on offense, first. On their opening play, Mason Petrino went with a play action fake to Isaiah Saunders before throwing a quick screen pass toward the sideline. Gardner-Johnson recognized the play and jumped the route with expert timing before returning it for a touchdown.

    This was a microcosm of how things went for the Gators all day.

    Florida’s defense stifled Petrino and the Vandals for most of the day, giving up just 73 yards through the air and 154 on the ground. It wasn’t until Idaho’s final possession of the first quarter that they were able to gain a first down.

    Petrino battled through the game, taking all of the punishment that the Gators defense meted out but in the end, he would throw more touchdowns to the boys in orange and blue than to his own receivers.

    With the lead and the ball, Feleipe Franks led the Gators on a three play, 47 yard drive, that was capped off by a 17 yard touchdown run by Franks. He would finish the game with 4 touchdowns and nearly 300 yards before being pulled late in the first half.

    During his short game, Franks completed passes to 12 different receivers and connected with 3 of them for touchdowns. These numbers might have been even more impressive if not for a handful of overthrown passes.

    In all, 13 different receivers caught passes on Saturday. Five different pass catchers hauled in touchdowns for the Gators in an offense that was entirely by committee.

    Freshman quarterback, Emory Jones came in for the final two series in the first half and played almost the entire second half as well. While there were a few fumbled snaps, Jones played very well completing 75% of his passes and throwing a pair of touchdowns.

    When he was in with the first unit offensive line, it appeared that Jones was more than capable of leading this Gators offense. Things got a little dicey with the backups but that had more to do with poor protections than it did with Emory’s play.

    With a blowout victory, Florida was able to get valuable experience for the next generation of Gators. There is now good film for the coaches to teach the young players how to play to the Gators standard with. You could see coach Mullen passionately coaching up his young talent even late in the game when the outcome was beyond question.

    The Gators have a real chance to make a New Year’s Six bowl game this year. They took another step towards reaching that goal, Saturday. The next step is of great importance for this season and even more so for the program. They must defeat Florida State next week and end the losing streak.

    A win over FSU next week puts the Gators at 9-3 on the year, keeps them in NY6 bowl contention, gives them bragging rights, and most importantly, will be a big statement in the recruiting war.

    Passing Leaders

    Florida

    Franks: 19/27, 274 YDS 3 TD

    Jones: 12/16, 125 YDS 2 TD

    Idaho

    Petrino: 12/31, 70 YDS 1 TD 2 INT

    Rushing Leaders

    Florida

    Pierce: 13 CAR, 77 YDS

    Franks: 2 CAR, 21 YDS 1 TD

    Hammond: 1 CAR, 21 YDS 1 TD

    Idaho

    Petrino: 12 CAR, 87 YDS

    Saunders: 14 CAR, 33 YDS

    Receiving Leaders

    Florida

    Jefferson: 3 REC, 35 YDS 1 TD

    Cleveland: 3 REC, 51 YDS 1 TD

    Hammond: 3 REC, 30 YDS 1 TD

    Idaho

    Cotton: 3 REC, 38 YDS 1 TD

    1st Downs

    Florida: 32

    Idaho: 14

    Total Plays

    Florida: 79

    Idaho: 68

    Time of Possession

    Florida: 28:40

    Idaho: 31:20

    Passing

    Florida: 399

    Idaho: 73

    Rushing

    Florida: 201

    Idaho: 154

    Penalties

    Florida: 5-55

    Idaho: 6-48

    Total Yards

    Florida: 600

    Idaho: 227

    Turnovers

    Florida: 1

    Idaho: 2

    SEC East Standings

    Georgia 6-1 8-1

    Kentucky 5-2 8-2

    Florida 5-3 8-3

    South Carolina 3-4 4-4

    Tennessee 1-3 4-4

    Vandy 1-5 4-6

    Mizzou 2-4 6-4

    *Some games may still be in progress

    What’s next? Rivalry Week. The Gators will face Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. The game will be broadcast live on ABC at noon EST.

  • FB: Previewing the Opponent: Idaho

    FB: Previewing the Opponent: Idaho

    Photo via Getty Images

    Florida vs Idaho

    11.17.18 / 12:00 PM

    Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

    ESPNU

    It is senior day this Saturday in the Swamp. That means it will be a bittersweet moment for the Florida Gators and their fans. In total, 20 seniors will play their final game at Ben Hill Griffin. But, at least they will be going out in style.

    Florida will be feasting on the Idaho Vandals come noon time tomorrow. There will be no shortage of fireworks and fans should expect to see the Gators scoring in wholesale.

    In their first year back in the FCS, the Vandals have posted a 4-6 record that has seen more struggles than celebrations. The Big Sky conference has often seemed too big for Idaho and they can’t wait for this year to be in the past.

    Idaho has played just one DI team this season, a 79-13 drubbing at the hands of mighty Fresno State. Things won’t look much better for them this weekend. The Gators should be able to do all that they want against this fledgling Vandals defense.

    Even if Florida comes out flat, they should win this one easily. There is plenty of reason for them to enter this game hungry, however. They’re still in the conversation for a NY6 bowl game, it’s senior day, and they need to make a statement that last week’s resurgence wasn’t a fluke.

    A convincing win will go a long way in convincing the bowl selection committee that the Gators deserve that coveted New Years 6 berth.

    Idaho Vandals

    Moscow, ID

    Enrollment: 9,885

    2018 record: 4-6

    Head coach: Paul Petrino

    We will see many new faces throughout this game, giving the opportunity to peek into the future just a bit. The league’s cap on how many players can dress doesn’t apply to this game and Dan Mullen plans to give playing time to many of the youngest Gators.

    Jacob Copeland should be among those making their debut for Florida. The highly touted freshman has been sidelined with an injury all season but is finally healthy enough to see the field. It’s a strong possibility that we also see Iverson Clement and Emory Jones back in action.

    On the defensive side of things, the Gators will be charged with shutting down a Vandals offense that runs through quarterback, Mason Petrino. The junior has completed 62% of his passes this season for just under 1,900 yards and 14 touchdowns. Petrino is also a threat on the ground, carrying the ball 65 times for 158 yards and 3 more scores.

    Despite Petrino’s dual threat ability, it is Isaiah Sanders who will take the lion’s share of touches in the Vandals rushing attack. The senior back has 189 carries for 878 yards on the season.

    Todd Grantham‘s defense should handle Idaho relatively easily but will still need to play with intensity and sound fundamentals. If Idaho puts up points it will be by way of busted coverage and missed assignments by the Gators.

    Currently, the Gators are 39.5 point favorites and should cover everyone of them. This will be a fun afternoon in Gainesville with plenty of highlight reel material, so pack the Swamp and send our seniors out with a bang!

    The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 12 EST. As always, be sure to follow all of the action on the ChompTalk.com Facebook and Twitter accounts.

  • GYM: Gators Sign Richards, But More Verbals Are Missing

    GYM: Gators Sign Richards, But More Verbals Are Missing

    Photo via Mary Howard / UF Gymnastics

    In what many expected to be a fuller day of announcements, Florida signed Payton Richards to a National Letter of Intent yesterday for the 2019-2020 season. A two-time Junior Olympic national beam champion and three-time Region 5 All-Star team member, Richards is expected to immediately make an impact on all four events upon arrival in Gainesville. This will be much appreciated, considering that Alicia Boren‘s graduation after the coming season will leave a massive, 9.9-on-every-event-sized hole in the Gator lineups.

    Florida head coach Jenny Rowland sang her praises in yesterday’s announcement. “Not only is she extremely talented, but a super consistent athlete as well. We look forward to seeing her shine on all the events. She’s definitely going to be a contender in the all-around beginning in her freshman year.” Take a look at her beam routine to see how cool she’ll be under pressure in the O-Dome.

    Richards was Florida’s only signee yesterday, though it’s worth noting that the signing period is nearly nine months long this time around. Still, most high-profile recruits, especially those who have already verbally committed, tend to sign on Signing Day, which was Wednesday. Notably absent from the festivities today were verbal Gator commits Morgan Hurd and Riley McCusker, fresh off of their gold medal run at Worlds as two-fifths of Team USA.

    Both gymnasts have made reference to their commitment to Florida on social media recently, including visits to campus in full Gator gear and showing off their chomp skills with current and future Gator gymnasts, including Richards.

    Still, the question must be asked: if they still intend to compete for UF, why didn’t they sign today and then announce that they’ll defer to make a run for the Olympics in Tokyo? This has been the norm in gymnastics in the last few years – both Mykayla Skinner and Kyla Ross signed with their respective schools before announcing their deferment until after the 2016 Olympic cycle.

    In general, a gymnast not signing when they’ve already verbally committed is cause for intrigue. This can sometimes mean that she’s being pursued by multiple schools and could be doubting her original commitment. It could also be due to an offer being withdrawn, which can be caused by a number of factors: injury, misconduct, violation of eligibility rules, or simply a crowded class with not enough scholarships to go around. But none of these explanations make sense with Hurd or McCusker’s situations.

    This leaves only one other likely explanation: they’re considering turning professional. Under NCAA regulations, if an athlete accepts money based on their sporting achievements or from endorsements, they can lose their eligibility to compete in college. In gymnastics, this presents an especially tricky situation for many successful gymnasts, because the peak of their career is often before college, rather than afterward like many mainstream sports. When a gymnast “goes pro,” they essentially have to give up their college eligibility to be able to financially capitalize on their athletic success. Some very successful gymnasts have been bitten by this rule, with Jordyn Wieber being the most recent high-profile case. Going into the 2012 Olympics, Wieber turned pro, expecting significant individual success to bring in the endorsements that would make turning down an offer at UCLA worth it. Instead, she missed out on the all-around final due to the two-per-country rule and was overshadowed by her teammates in the following media bonanza. She decided to go to UCLA anyway, though she couldn’t compete, and entertained a comeback for a short period of time, though she was forced to train separately from her would-be team. It wasn’t in the cards, though, and then she was forced to retire despite the fact that her professional career never really went anywhere, illustrating all too starkly the dangers of turning pro as a young gymnast.

    Still, it’s an attractive option for many top-caliber gymnasts, and Hurd and McCusker would be no exception. Hurd is already a very active social media user with a major following, particularly in the nerd community as a vocal fan of both Harry Potter and Hamilton. And McCusker would be following in the footsteps of former clubmate Laurie Hernandez, who successfully turned pro following her rise to fame in Rio two years ago. It’s likely that if either or both of them is considering this route that much of it will depend on the coming year. If either of them is seriously injured or fails to make next year’s World team, their chances at Tokyo could be significantly damaged, so going pro would be far more of a risk at that point. On the flipside, if they were to make the 2019 Worlds team, continue on their meteoric rise to success, and make really strong cases for Tokyo, going pro could seem incredibly attractive and a much safer bet than it is right now. Unfortunately for now, only time will tell whether we get to see these two elite stars in Gainesville or not. In the meantime, check out some of their highlights from Worlds last month.

    Whether she has famous classmates joining her or not, Payton Richards will still be a valuable addition to the Florida squad and merits excitement and anticipation from teammates and fans alike.

  • MBB: Gators drop LaSalle 82-69

    MBB: Gators drop LaSalle 82-69

    Photo via Getty Images

    Florida improved to 2-1 on the season with a wire-to-wire win against the LaSalle Explorers on Wednesday.

    For the first time this season the post players made their presence felt. Kevarrius Hayes, Isaiah Stokes, Keyontae Johnson, and Chase Johnson all had memorable games that’ll make every Gator fan excited looking ahead to next week’s Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

    First Half

    Senior big man Kevarrius Hayes started of the first half strong making three field goals in the first 180 seconds of the game. Then as he slipped into foul trouble with nearly 15 minutes remaining in the first half, Mike White had to sit down his vocal senior leader. With out Hayes of the floor, the Gators could not find a consistent rhythm as the lead stayed between six and eight points. A late first half three by 5th year senior wing Jalen Hudson pushed the Florida lead to eight with a 40-32 lead going into the locker room break.

    Second Half:

    During the post game press conference, Hayes talked about the changes made at halftime saying, “We had a little talk, we addressed a lot of mistakes that we had made in the first half and kind of made it a point to fix it in the second.” And by all means that point was made as the Gators went on a 19-3 run over the first 8:50 of the second half. In that time frame, Hayes was on the court provide defensively, offensively, and he delivered as a leader with his energy. Kevarrius is a high energy guy that when playing well his teammates can feed off of that energy, which is what happened Wednesday night. Keyontae Johnson and Isaiah Stokes were able to feed off of the high energy as all three bigs were able to post memorable nights against LaSalle. K. Johnson had a career high 12 points and Stokes posted a career high 9 points.

    “We had a good run, a good jump, everybody was playing hard, playing together. I think as long as we share the ball and play hard on defense a lot of things will work out for us.” Said Hayes during the postgame press conference.

    After the early second half run, the Gators were able to run away with this one, getting 14 players on the court and clinging to a 82-69 lead as time expired. For the third time this season the Gators have a different leading scorer, this game it’s Jalen Hudson who finished 15 points of 6/12 shooting, that was a season high in points for Hudson. Some other players played well enough to earn season highs and career highs as well, including freshman guard Andrew Nembhard who dished out 7 assists.

    But the player of the game without a doubt has to be Kevarrius Hayes, who posted a season high 12 points to go with six rebounds. He was an anchor down low defensively, but what was most valuable was his high energy all game. “He cares about winning as much as anyone on our team. He’s as prepared and competitive in practice as anyone on our team everyday. We know what we’re getting out of Kevarrius everyday from an effort standpoint, he works his butt off. For him to have a good game individually, it’s nice to see and hopefully it’s a good example to his teammates as well.” Said head Coach Mike White after his team improved 2-1 on the season.

    Notable Stats

    Florida: 82

    Hayes – 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block

    Nembhard – 4 points, 7 assists, 3 steals

    Hudson – 15 points, 3 rebounds

    Allen – 8 points, 8/8 free throw shooting

    K. Johnson – 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

    C. Johnson – 6 points, 3 rebounds

    Stokes – 9 points, 2 assists

    Ballard – 6 points

    LaSalle: 69

    Kimbrough 5 points, 8 rebounds

    Powell – 21 points, 3 turnovers

    Beatty – 13 points, 4 turnovers

    Deas – 10 points, 5 turnovers

  • MBB: Scouting LaSalle

    MBB: Scouting LaSalle

    On Wednesday night the Florida Gators (1-1) will take on Explorers of LaSalle (0-2) at home. This article will highlight everything you need to know about LaSalle to be prepared for the upcoming game.

    LaSalle comes out of the Atlantic-10 Conference and come into the game against the Gators with losses to Temple and Lafayette.

    First year Head Coach Ashley Howard movef across Philadelphia from Villanova to the Explorers. At Villanova, Howard was an assistant under Jay Wright and was a member of National Championship teams with the Wildcats. Howard will look to bring that same style of play with him to North Philly. You can expect the Explorers to space the floor, shoot threes, and have two dominant lead guards that focus on ball movement and the pick-and-roll offense. Very similar to that of Jalen Brunson and Ryan Arcidiacono in 2016, then Brunson and Phil Booth in 2018.

    Players to know:

    Pookie Powell – 6’0 Sr. Powell is leading the team in scoring with 20 per game, he is coming off a season high of 26 against Lafayette. An All-Conference talent and team leader, will be the go to guy against the Gators.

    Isaiah Deas – 6’6 Jr. He has improved his per game average by 10 this season, averaging 19.5 through two games. As an undersized Four-man, Deas is averaging 3.5 boards per contest.

    Traci Carter – 6’1 Jr. A transfer from Marquette that is averaging nine points a game, with 4 rebounds, 3.5 steals, and 3 assist on the season.

    Miles Brookins – 6’10 So. Brookins is the man controlling the paint for the Explorers, he’s averaging 11.5 points and 4 rebounds thus far.

    Cheddi Mosely – 6’3 Sr. The first player of the bench for Ashley Howard, Mosely is a Boston University transfer averaging four points a game on 2/10 shooting.

    Jared Kimbrough – 6’8 Fr. Kimbrough is the teams leading rebounder with seven a game. As an undersized big he’s struggle to find minutes, in 14 minutes per game, he is averaging 1.5 points.

    Final Out Look:

    First year head coach Ashley Howard wants to bring a Villanova style of play to LaSalle, but truth is, that dream is still a few years away. The Explorers will look to shoot a lot of threes, so far this season they have struggled mightily. Despite 55 attempts in only two games, they have made 19, for 34%. Isaiah Deas is the only player having success from behind the line, he is shooting a team high 8/16 (50%).