Florida Men’s Basketball Hosts LSU For Home Opener

The Florida men’s basketball will play its first home match up in SEC play when it hosts LSU Saturday at 2 PM. LSU is coming off of a win earlier this week when they defeated the Texas A&M Aggies while Florida can say the same when they defeated Vanderbilt on Wednesday. Overall, the Gators sit at 4-1 thus far in the season and 1-0 in conference play.

Let's run it back 😈

🆚 LSU
⌚️ 2:00 p.m.
📺 CBS
📈 https://t.co/QrFz2mr53K
📻 https://t.co/bqHoaiuTr7#GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/yD5yhDYQHa

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 2, 2021

Players To Watch

All nine Florida players who participated in the Vandy game contributed to the scoreboard. But five UF players reached double digits. Junior forward Colin Castleton grabbed his career-best when he hit for 23 points. Castleton completed 11 of his 13 shots including six dunks. Guard Scottie Lewis has proven consistency this season as he has hit double digits in the last four games. Lewis is averaging 17.5 points per game. Next, Noah Locke has put himself in eighth place in the program’s all-time list of 3-point shooting percentage. Locke boasts a .421 percentage. Finally, Tre Mann sits in the number one spot for points scored for his team. This season, Mann has put a total of 72 points on the board averaging  14.4 points a game.

Keyontae’s Role

After Keyontae Johnson’s collapse against Florida State, the Gators took more than two weeks away from the court. They wiped out four games from their schedule including North Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida A&M and James Madison. Johnson will be present for today’s match up with LSU and will take on a new role as he regains his health. Gator coach Mike White says the staff is exploring new roles for Johnson.

Facing LSU

LSU travels to the O’Connell Center for their first road league game bringing with them the SEC’s top scorer in freshman Cameron Thomas. Thomas is averaging 24.1 points per game this season and reached a career-high earlier this week when he scored 32 against Texas A&M. White explained that the LSU matchup will be a revealing challenge.

Final tune-up ☑️

📍 @OConnellCTR 🔜#GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/gr1CZEmYdK

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 2, 2021

We’ll see if the Gators or the Tigers will stay unbeaten in league play after they clash on Saturday.