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With trips to Knoxville and Auburn in the near future, a midweek bye for No. 5 Florida could not have come at a better time.
Florida (18-2, 5-2 SEC) plays No. 8 Tennessee (17-4, 4-4) at Thompson-Boling Arena at noon Saturday (ESPN, 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF). They have not won at this venue since 2014. The Volunteers, who lost at home to No. 12 Kentucky 78-73 on Tuesday, have not lost back-to-back home games since 2020.
“This was the perfect week for us to get a bye,” Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden said. “I would have been a little concerned if we would’ve played Tuesday or Wednesday, you know, how much we would have been able to rally from a mental and physical preparation standpoint.”
Golden’s Focal Points
With a week between the Gators’ 89-59 domination against Georgia last Saturday and this upcoming matchup against Tennessee, Florida has had ample time to improve and game plan. Golden’s main point of emphasis — getting healthy.
UF has not lost to Georgia since 2019.
That same level of offensive energy will be needed if the Gators want to beat Tennessee in Knoxville for the first since 2014.
A recap of Georgia: pic.twitter.com/NsM82UQjSR
— Jesse Bratman (@jessebratman) January 30, 2025
“Very few teams can stay healthy for all 18 games through the conference season,” Golden said. “You’ve seen it with Auburn with Johni [Broome]. You’ve seen it with Kentucky and Andrew Carr and [Lamont] Butler missed the last game. Zakai [Zeigler] got banged up in their [Tennessee’s] last game.”
Star guard Will Richard has been playing through injury over his last couple of games, Golden said. A key piece off the bench Sam Alexis has been playing through an illness. With Golden saying last year’s starting center Micah Handlogten will likely be out for the season, Alexis will need to increase his offensive production. In his last three games, he has only attempted eight shots, cashing in just three.
Update: Todd Golden says Micah Handlogten will likely sit out the rest of the year, per @GrahamHall
Micah was going to play vs Georgia last Saturday, but changed his mind after thinking about it according to Todd Golden. pic.twitter.com/h8swKvoyKS
— Florida Gators 🐊🔥 (@gatorsszn) January 30, 2025
On the court, Golden stressed defensive intensity and touch around the rim at Tuesday’s practice. He gave his players Monday and Wednesday off.
“We’ve got to finish a little better inside,” Golden said. “We’ve got to make sure we continue to defend at a high level.”
Tough Road Ahead
Florida’s next four games will come against ranked opponents. After the match against Tennessee on Saturday, the Gators will travel to face No.1 Auburn and No. 14 Mississippi State, while welcoming No. 24 Vanderbilt to the O-Dome.
“It’s one of the benefits and one of the great things about this league, is that you really don’t get punished for losing unless you lose in a really bad manner,” Golden said. “Every win is a resume win. You have a lot of opportunities to continue to build that.”
After blowing out Tennessee by 30 at the O-Dome earlier this month, Florida is going to need to remain disciplined. Minimizing turnovers against the best defensive team in country will be imperative.
The Volunteers’ backcourt of Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler can be lethal from distance if they get hot, but Golden said he feels confident his team will be able to suppress Tennessee’s attack.
“With this midweek bye, I feel like we should be able to get back organized and ready to go for what is going to be a war Saturday in Knoxville,” Golden said.
