PREVIEW: The Gator Men’s Basketball Team Takes On The Richmond Spiders

Tonight, the Florida men’s basketball team welcomes Richmond to the O’Dome. Tip-Off between the Gators and the Spiders is set for 7PM.

The Gators are rolling into this matchup after a victory over Florida Gulf Coast, last Friday.

After a sluggish start by Florida, The Gators were trailing the Eagles 33-32, at the final buzzer, of the first half. The Gators seemed to have woken up after a quick halftime break. Florida bounced back and defeated Florida Gulf Coast 70-50.

The Gators left the O’Dome with a handful of interesting statistics against the Eagles. Florida racked up 11 blocked shots on Florida Gulf Coast and it marked the highest total for the Gators since 2006, against Florida A&M, when they forced 12 blocked shots. The Gators also forced the Eagles to commit 18 turnovers and grabbed a season-high 11 steals. Last, but not least, Coach Mike White became the first Florida coach to win his first three home games since John Lotz , who started 4-0 at home, back in 1973.

The Richmond Spiders are entering Gainesville, Florida lead by head coach, Chris Mooney. The Spiders are currently 4-and-2, this season and more recently, coming off of a major victory over then #14 ranked California. Richmond defeated the Bears 94-90, in a nail-biter. The Spiders’ senior forward, Terry Allen, has become a serious asset for the Richmond program. Coach Mooney is very impressed with Allen, who was recently named Atlantic 10 player of the week, after the win over California. Allen is averaging to 22.2 points per game and eight rebounds.

Richmond has been noted for putting up a lot of shots and capitalizing, but coach Mooney says his Spiders would have to excel on defense and stop the Gators in transition, to leave Gainesville with a win.

Tonight is not the time for the Gators to have arachnophobia, “the fear of spiders.”

The Gators hosts the Spiders in the O’Dome at 7PM.