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  • Gators get signature road win against Oklahoma

    Gators get signature road win against Oklahoma

    FINAL: FLORIDA 80, OKLAHOMA 61

    1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT FINAL
    FLORIDA 16 17 14 33 X 80
    OU 13 10 17 21 X 61

    NORMAN, OK- Florida head coach Cameron Newbauer earned his signature victory after the Gators dominated Oklahoma on the road in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Sunday.

    Oklahoma is a team that has averaged 80 points and more than 40 rebounds per contest. Despite the Sooners entering the game outrebounding opponents by more than two boards, Florida grabbed 56 while limiting Oklahoma to only 31. Newbauer has harped on his team all year about rebounding and limiting offensive rebounds. This was “a great team win, I’m proud of our team,” Newbauer said after the game.

    Dyandria Anderson led Florida with 29 points despite only attempting 11 shots. Anderson hit six of her seven three-point attempts and was seven of nine from the free-throw stripe. Funda Nakkasoglu added 24 points, and Delicia Washington chipped in 11 points. Washington also grabbed 15 rebounds, leading the Gators effort on the glass. Haley Lorenzen added 11 boards to the effort. Anderson, Nakkasgolu, and Washington each had four assists.

    Florida led 43-29 midway through the third quarter, but Oklahoma went on a 11-4 run to finish the period. “Oklahoma battled back and owned momentum heading into the fourth quarter,” Newbauer stated, also expressing his pride in his team’s resilience.

    The Gators finished the game with a fourth quarter rout of the Sooners. Florida outscored Oklahoma 33-21 in the final period. Florida made four three-pointers in the final quarter, and hit all six of their free throws in the final two minutes.

    Florida held Oklahoma’s starters to a total of just 13 points. Leading scorer, 6-4 center, Vionise Pierre-Louis finished with just four points and three rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Guard Gabbi Ortiz played all forty minutes and failed to register a single point. Oritz shot 0-8 in the game. Freshman guard Shaina Pellington led the Sooners with 22 points off the bench.

    Florida will face Ohio State on Wednesday at 5:30 PM at Exactech Arena.

    TEAM STATS:

    FLORIDA OKLAHOMA
    FG % 42 35
    3-PT % 46 15
    FT % 73 50
    Offensive Rebounds 15 13
    Total Rebounds 56 31
    Assists 16 7
    Steals 4 10
    Blocks 0 3
    Turnovers 21 7

    WHAT’S NEXT:

    Florida will face #8 Ohio State on Wednesday at 5:30 PM in Exactech Arena. The Buckeyes are 8-2 on the season and defeated Maine 83-70 on Sunday. OSU has only lost to #4 Louisville and #14 Duke thus far.

    “Ohio State presents a whole other challenge. They have prolific guards and can shoot from the perimeter.” -Newbauer

    Florida vs Ohio State

    December 6, 2017

    5:30 PM / Exactech Arena

    SEC Network +

  • Gators advance to Sweet Sixteen, will meet UCLA on Friday

    Gators advance to Sweet Sixteen, will meet UCLA on Friday

    FINAL: FLORIDA 3, MIAMI 1

    1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th FINAL
    MIAMI 14 25 11 23 X 1
    FLORIDA 25 19 25 25 X 3

    GAINESVILLE, FL- The Florida Gators are on to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. Florida defeated the Miami Hurricanes in second round action, 3-1 on Friday night to advance to the program’s twenty-fourth regional semifinal.

    Florida finished set one with the advantage thanks to a .393 hitting percentage and only one attack error. Miami hit at a .111 efficiency and committed seven errors on their 36 attack attempts.

    Set two saw Miami hit at a .485 clip while committing only three errors. The Gators also committed three errors, but only attacked at a .269 rate. The Hurricanes had 19 kills while Florida only managed 10.

    The Gators dominated set three both offensively and defensively. Florida’s attack percentage was .414, while forcing Miami into a negative efficiency (-.028). Florida committed two errors while the Hurricanes made eight.

    Set four was a gritty game between the two squads. Florida finished with a .375 hitting efficiency while Miami hit .282. Florida had 19 kills to Miami’s 14. The Gators committed four errors while Miami committed only three.

    Florida finished the match with 68 points, 55 kills, five aces, and 57 digs en route to victory over the Hurricanes. Redshirt senior Shainah Joseph led Florida with 19 kills, followed by fellow senior Carli Snyder with 13. Allie Monserez and Paige Hammons each served two aces. Senior Rhamat Alhassan and Joseph each recorded five blocks. Monserez also had 28 assists to lead the Gators. Hammons had 18 digs, while Caroline Knop recorded an additional 11.

    There will be one more weekend of NCAA Tournament volleyball action at Exactech Arena as Florida will move on to the Sweet Sixteen. The Gators will face UCLA on Friday at 4:00 PM. The #15 seeded Bruins defeated Cal-Poly 3-1 to advance.

    The winner of Florida-UCLA will face the winner of the Friday night matchup of Southern Cal and Minnesota.

    (Photo courtesy of ESPN)

  • Gators begin quest toward first national title

    Gators begin quest toward first national title

    2013. 2014. 2017. These years all have something in common when talking about the University of Florida’s athletic programs. In each of those years, a Florida athletic program earned their first national title. 2013: Gymnastics. 2014: Softball. 2017: Baseball.

    On December 16, the Florida volleyball team hopes to be the fourth program in the last four years to earn their first national championship.

    And of all the past years and all the success the program has endured, this team may have the best chance entering the NCAA Tournament.

    Florida finished the regular season 25-1 and ranked third in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Florida owns the #2 RPI in Division I volleyball, and was named the #2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. For the Gators, this is the first time since 2010 and seventh time overall that they have been a top four seed.

    WHY THIS YEAR?

    What’s different about the 2017 team?

    Florida has an 8-1 record against teams in the NCAA Tournament. Florida has defeated the #5 seed (Nebraska) and the #6 seed (Texas) in Gainesville already this year. The Gators also split two matches against #4 overall seed Kentucky.

    Senior leadership:

    The Gators are led by an extremely talented senior class. SEC Player of the Year MB Rhamat Alhassan set program records for career blocks and block assists. Alhassan ranks number one in the country in blocks per set and 26th in overall hitting percentage.

    Seniors: OH Carli Snyder, L Caroline Knop, and (redshirt) OH Shainah Joseph each were named to the All-SEC team in addition to sophomore Rachael Kramer. Head coach Mary Wise was named the SEC co-coach of the year.

    Wise has coached Florida since 1991 and earned her 900th career victory in the regular season finale against Missouri.

    Team rankings:

    Florida’s team defense is among the best in the country. Florida ranks second in the nation allowing opponents to hit at a .126 clip. The Gators are third in the country in blocks per set (led by Alhassan), with 3.12 per set.

    Florida also controls matches offensively. Florida is the fourth ranked team in assists per set at 13.27. The Gators average 14.12 kills per set, and hit at a .280 efficiency. Each of those stats rank in the top 30 nationally.

    Florida’s path to the Final Four:

    Florida has a relatively easy path to the Final Four. Not only will the Gators have the opportunity to play at home through to the Final weekend, but they won’t face a team ranked higher than seventh seeded Minnesota. The Gophers also rank seventh in RPI.

    __________

    Florida faces Alabama State in the opening round of play on Thursday at 7:00 PM. The winner will meet the winner of the Miami-College of Charleston matchup on Friday.

    Florida has as good a chance as ever to win the national title this year. The seniors have laid the groundwork for success by example. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Upsets happen in sports all the time. But, don’t be surprised if we are celebrating a first for the program come December 16.

  • OL Chris Bleich becomes first to commit to Florida under Dan Mullen

    OL Chris Bleich becomes first to commit to Florida under Dan Mullen

    The new bat signal has now flashed across Twitter:

    And with that Florida has landed their first commitment since the hiring of head coach Dan Mullen.

    OL Chris Bleich announced his decommitment from UCLA, and his commitment to Florida after both schools changed coaches.

    Bleich is a 6-6, 305 lb tackle from Plymouth, PA. He is enrolled in school at Wyoming Valley West.

    Bleich is a three-star tackle according to 247sports.com. Bleich was recruited by new Florida assistant coach John Hevesy.
    (Photo via PennLive.com)

  • Lorenzen’s double-double leads Gators past Jacksonville

    Lorenzen’s double-double leads Gators past Jacksonville

    FINAL: FLORIDA 69, JACKSONVILLE 59

    1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT FINAL
    JU 10 11 14 24 X 59
    FLORIDA 14 19 17 19 X 69

    GAINESVILLE, FL- The Florida Gators came off a successful trip to Savannah, Georgia by defeating the Jacksonville Dolphins 69-59 on Tuesday in the friendly confines at Exactech Arena.

    Florida, which entered the game averaging more than 11 three-point makes per game, played a much more inside-out game then their previous games. Florida attempted a season low 18 three-pointers, making only six. However, Florida made 51% of their shots inside the arc, led by senior forward Haley Lorenzen. Lorenzen finished the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. This was the third double-double for Lorenzen this season and seventh of her career. After the game, Lorenzen complimented her teammates when asked about her performance, “All the credit goes to my teammates, I don’t get the ball without them.”

    The Gators held Jacksonville to only 37% shooting and allowed the Dolphins to only connect on four of seventeen attempts from deep. Florida also outrebounded JU by 12, rebounding has been a key emphasis by head coach Cameron Newbauer this year.

    Florida established an eighteen point lead by the middle of the third quarter before Jacksonville fought back. The Dolphins closed the gap by forcing Florida into turnovers. Florida committed four turnovers in the final four minutes of the third quarter and gave the ball away seven times in the fourth quarter.

    “They are a tough, gritty team. We had to finish strong. We had some mishaps, but overall it was a good win,” Newbauer stated after the game.

    In addition to Lorenzen, Florida had two others in double figures scoring; Dyandria Anderson (16), and Delicia Washington (12). Newbauer complimented the play of Washington as she rounded out her stats with nine rebounds and seven assists.

    Florida’s leading scorer, Funda Nakkasoglu returned to action after missing two games and finished with six points on 2-11 shooting. Newbauer said that Nakkasoglu was not at 100%, but that he “liked how she kept going, and kept helping others get good shots.”

    Jacksonville was led by Brandi Buie who scored 25 points. JU forward Kayla Gordon finished with seven points, but a game high 13 rebounds.

    Florida will play on Sunday at Oklahoma.

    TEAM STATS:

    JU FLORIDA
    FG % 37 46
    3-PT % 24 33
    FT % 90 50
    Offensive Rebounds 14 18
    Total Rebounds 33 45
    Assists 6 14
    Steals 6 5
    Blocks 2 2
    Turnovers 17 17

    WHAT’S NEXT:

    Florida travels to Oklahoma to face the Sooners on Sunday at 3:00 PM in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Oklahoma is 3-3 so far this season. The Sooners fell to Little Rock on Tuesday by a 68-56 margin. Oklahoma was led by senior guard Gabbi Ortiz who scored 15 points in 37 minutes of action.

    Florida vs Oklahoma

    December 3, 2017

    7:00 PM / Lloyd Noble Center

    Fox Sports Sun

  • Report: Dan Mullen has agreed to deal to become Florida head coach

    Report: Dan Mullen has agreed to deal to become Florida head coach

    Florida has found their next head coach. According to college football insider Brett McMurphy Florida has finalized a deal with Dan Mullen for their vacant head coaching position.

    Mullen has spent nine years as the head coach at Mississippi State. He sports an overall record of 69-46. Mullen has not beaten Alabama in nine attempts as a head coach and has losing records against LSU (2-5) and Auburn (3-6).

    Prior to his tenure with the Bulldogs, Mullen was the offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer. With Meyer, Mullen won two national championships in Gainesville.

    Mullen will be tasked with establishing an offensive identity at Florida and developing a quarterback. Florida has been in a rut offensively since Mullen left for Starkville. Mullen has had success with quarterbacks in the past with Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, and Dak Prescott. All three of which have played in the NFL.

    Mullen must prove his recruiting acumen immediately as the early signing period begins December 20th.

    Mullen famously referenced Florida as a “lateral move” when former MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins moved to Florida with Jim McElwain saying, “I don’t like anybody leaving for what I would view a lateral move, to be perfectly honest.”

    Florida faces Mississippi State on September 29, 2018 in Starkville.

    __________

    Official statement from the UAA:

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin announced that Dan Mullen will be the 27th head coach in Florida football history.

    Mullen, who spent the past nine seasons as Mississippi State’s head coach (2009-17), returns to Gainesville where he served four seasons (2005-08) as offensive coordinator and was a major factor in the program winning two Southeastern Conference and BCS National Titles (2006, 2008) during his tenure.

    “Megan and I are very excited to get back to Gainesville and the University of Florida,” Head Coach Dan Mullen said. “I have such great memories of the championships we won during our time here and have a love for Florida. We are happy to be coming back to such a supportive administration, staff, student body and fan base, which is the premier football program in the country.

    “We will give relentless effort in everything that we do on and off the field. Our commitment will match the passion that the Gator Nation has for this program.”

    “I strongly believe Dan is the most prepared candidate to have immediate and long-term success at the University of Florida,” Stricklin said. “Coach Mullen is one of the best offensive minds in all of college football, and has an unbelievable track record in tutoring successful quarterbacks (such as Alex Smith, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald).

    “Coach Mullen will do a tremendous job in developing accountability and toughness through a well-coordinated strength and conditioning program. Dan will work closely with the coaching staff, academic advising staff and administrative team to give every student athlete he coaches the opportunity to grow and excel at a high level athletically, academically and socially.”

    “I’m pleased with the approach and process that Scott Stricklin and his staff had in place for this search that landed us the best candidate to move our football program forward nationally,” UF President Dr. W. Kent Fuchs said. “Coach Mullen has a very successful track record at Florida and the SEC, which includes his ability to develop student-athletes on and off the field at the highest level.”

    Mullen, 45, was honored in 2014 as the national college football coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club. He also won honors as the SEC Coach of the Year that season. His tenure with the Bulldogs saw the program ascend to a No. 1 ranking during regular season polls and he oversaw participation in a school-record eight consecutive bowl games.

    As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UF prior to joining MSU in 2009, Mullen worked a Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award-winning quarterback, along with a Rimington Trophy finalist and a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist.

    Player development has been a key to Mullen’s coaching career successes. Twenty-two Bulldogs have been chosen in the NFL Draft under Mullen since 2010. Dak Prescott became the highest drafted MSU quarterback in modern NFL Draft history, going in the 2016 fourth round to the Dallas Cowboys.

    Prescott joined the following QBs tutored by Mullen who were selected in the NFL Draft: Josh Harris (Bowling Green), Omar Jacobs (Bowling Green), Alex Smith (Utah) and Tim Tebow (Florida).

    In the last seven NFL Drafts, the Bulldogs have produced seven first- or second-round picks. In the eight drafts prior to Mullen’s arrival, MSU did not have any.

    MSU shattered over 100 individual and team single-game, single-season and career statistical records in Mullen’s nine seasons. Meanwhile, the top seven total offensive seasons’ statistical performances in school history have all occurred in the Mullen era.

  • Saturday’s story: Bad things happen in threes

    Saturday’s story: Bad things happen in threes

    For Florida football fans this has been a year to forget. Who woke up on Saturday September 2nd, just hours before the kickoff in Dallas, expecting this outcome?

    Since Jim McElwain’s firing on October 29th there has been no talk about the football games that have been played each week since. The focus has entirely been on the coaching search. And with good reason. There are a lot of issues that the new coach will have to sort out.

    For the first couple of weeks the speculation was fun. Scott Frost, Mike Norvell, Dan Mullen, Bob Stoops. We knew we wouldn’t hear anything for a while because these coaches were all with their team (except the retired Stoops).

    Then rumors came to life and it seemed as if Chip Kelly wanted to be a Gator. This brought excitement to Gator Nation. His high-flying offense and 46-7 career college coaching record and four BCS bowl appearances had the fan base salivating. Why go after Frost (Kelly’s WR coach at Oregon), when you can go after his mentor?

    Despite having a signed deal in place, according to Darren Heitner of The Sports Agent’s Blog, Kelly was interested in the recently opened UCLA position. Kelly apparently talked Florida officials into giving him a window to back out of the deal in case another job interested him more.

    _________

    Saturday proved to be a day much worse than any Florida fan expected. As is often said, bad things happen in threes.

    First: just hours before kickoff of Florida-Florida State, the ESPN notification sounded:

    Chip Kelly has agreed to become head coach at UCLA.

    That put a damper on the tailgating, especially since Nebraska fired coach Mike Riley Friday night and AD Bill Moos specifically mentioned his interest in Frost.

    Second: Gator fans went into the FSU game relatively confident. This is not a good Seminoles team. We should be able to beat them and keep them from bowl-eligibility.

    However, it didn’t take long for fans to realize that wouldn’t happen either. Although the defense played well, holding FSU’s offense to only 216 yards, the offense never found a rhythm and turned the ball over four times. Florida fell to their rival 38-22. This was the fifth straight win by the Seminoles in the series.

    Third: the sudden decommitment of top WR prospect Jacob Copeland served as the third big loss of the day.

    Copeland is a Top-50 overall prospect from Pensacola and is now considered an Alabama lean by 247sports.com.

    _________

    Florida AD Scott Stricklin needs to find his new coach as soon as possible, if for no other reason than to prove to Gators fans that the sky isn’t falling.

    Saturday sure seems to be the epitome of the entire season. Florida suffered three big losses, and seemingly can do nothing right.

    But there is hope for the future. The Sunday morning sun will rise, and eventually, Florida will have a new coach.

  • #7 Florida outlasts #17 Gonzaga in double-OT thriller

    #7 Florida outlasts #17 Gonzaga in double-OT thriller

    FINAL: FLORIDA 111, GONZAGA 105 (2OT)

    1st 2nd OT FINAL
    FLORIDA 29 49 33 111
    GONZAGA 36 42 27 105

    PORTLAND, OR- #7 Florida vs #17 Gonzaga. It was a game for the ages. A double-overtime thriller between two ranked teams. And with any luck, maybe we will see this matchup again come March or April.

    Behind the incredible efforts of senior Chris Chiozza, junior Jalen Hudson, and junior KeVaughn Allen, the Florida Gators outlasted the Gonzaga Bulldogs in double-overtime in the semifinal of the Phil Knight 80 Invitational.

    The Gators shot poorly in the first half, resulting in a season low 29 points in the opening period. But Florida was able to find their stroke. Namely, Jalen Hudson was able to start knocking down shots. Hudson finished with 35 points despite only having four points at the intermission. Hudson knocked down eight of his twelve attempts from beyond the three-point arc.

    Florida was trailing 78-76 after a three point play by Gonzaga’s Josh Perkins, but Allen scored on a quick drive to the basket to force the tie with only 31 seconds remaining in regulation. The Bulldogs Silas Melson missed a jumper to force the initial overtime period.

    In the first overtime period, Chiozza completed a three point play to put Florida on top 95-93 with only 9 seconds remaining. Melson hit a quick layup and drew a foul on sophomore Keith Stone, but missed the free throw. What ensued was chaos. Graduate transfer Egor Koulechov rebounded the missed free throw but took three steps prior to throwing the ball down the length of the court, resulting in a traveling violation. Gonzaga inbounded the ball with 0.9 remaining on the clock. While defending the inbound, Chiozza got caught looking at the ball, and Melson got an open look at the basket. Fortunately for Florida, the shot rimmed out.

    After trading layups to begin the second overtime session, Florida went on a 6-0 run on back to back three pointers by Hudson and Chiozza. Florida would never look back en route a 111-105 victory that finished at 2:20 AM EST.

    Chiozza finished two rebounds short of a triple-double (26 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds) while Allen finished with 23 points. Koulechov finished the game with only four points on 1-9 shooting including 0-4 from three-point land.

    Florida improves to 5-0 and gets a big win toward their NCAA Tournament resume. The Gators will face Duke in the PK80 Invitational Motion Bracket Championship game on Sunday.

    RECORDS:

    • FLORIDA: 5-0
    • GONZAGA: 4-1

    Team Stats:

    FLORIDA GONZAGA
    FG % 46 48
    3-PT % 47 32
    FT % 80 76
    Offensive Rebounds 13 14
    Total Rebounds 42 42
    Assists 22 17
    Steals 5 6
    Blocks 4 6
    Turnovers 13 14

    What’s Next:

    Florida advances in the winners side of the Motion Bracket of the Phil Knight 80 Invitational. Florida will face #1 Duke in the championship game on Sunday. Duke defeated Texas 85-78 in overtime on Friday.

    Florida vs Duke

    November 26, 2017

    10:30 PM / Portland, OR

    ESPN

  • Report: Florida officials to meet with Scott Frost this weekend

    Report: Florida officials to meet with Scott Frost this weekend

    It appears that Chip Kelly has chosen UCLA over Florida. Earlier on Friday, Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde reported that Florida was moving on from Kelly and targeting UCF head coach Scott Frost.

    ESPN is now reporting that Florida representatives are expected to meet with Frost this weekend in Orlando.

    *More to come as this story is still developing.

  • Report: Florida has moved on from Chip Kelly, now targeting Scott Frost

    Report: Florida has moved on from Chip Kelly, now targeting Scott Frost

    According to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports, the Florida Gators have decided to move on from Chip Kelly in their search for a new head football coach.

    Forde indicates that Florida is expected to turn it’s attention to Central Florida’s Scott Frost. Frost took over a UCF team that was 0-12 and ranked dead last in the FBS in scoring offense. He currently has his offense ranked #1 and has turned sophomore QB Mackenzie Milton into a dark horse Heisman candidate.

    On Sunday, Florida officials, including Athletic Director Scott Stricklin and UF President Dr. Kent Fuchs, flew to New Hampshire to present Kelly a contract which was signed according to Darren Heitner of the Sports Agent’s Blog. Heitner also iterated that Kelly had an ‘escape clause’ within a certain timeframe.

    Also on Sunday, the UCLA Bruins fired head coach Jim Mora, and according to multiple sources including ESPN and CBS Sports, made an all-out effort toward Kelly. CBS Sports reported on Tuesday that Kelly was deciding between the two schools.

    If Forde is correct, it is entirely possible that Kelly has told Stricklin that he would rather be at UCLA. After all, Chip Kelly’s agent, David Dunn is a UCLA graduate.

    *More to come as this story develops.