Florida will look to build off the momentum of its most lopsided win of the season when it hosts Stetson on Sunday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators (5-3) are coming off a 102-62 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday. Florida reached triple-digit scoring in regulation for the first time since beating Long Beach State 102-63 on Dec. 28, 2019.
“We have plenty of things to get better at but I would say that tenacity in which we were competing, and obviously getting off to a 19-2 start is something to get excited about,” first-year Florida coach Todd Golden said. “We challenged the team that way — like, ‘Hey, how are we going to respond? What are we going to do?’
“I thought to a man everybody competed really hard. We did a good job. It’s a good one to build on as we move forward.”
Florida won big despite being down two starters — point guard Kyle Lofton and shooting guard Will Richard. Golden said both players remain questionable heading into the Stetson matchup.
“Both are still day-to-day at this time,” Golden said, “but they’ve made progress which is good. (We) hope to have them for Sunday.”
Trey Bonham helped pick up the slack with Lofton and Richard out against FAMU, making a career-high seven 3-pointers and finishing with 23 points in the victory. Bonham has averaged 17.0 points since being inserted in Florida’s starting lineup four games ago.
Stetson (4-2), which upset both Florida State and South Florida, is coming off a 125-51 win over Div. II Johnson on Tuesday.
The Hatters are led by Ball State transfer Luke Brown, who is averaging 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Brown scored 27 points in Stetson’s 83-74 season-opening victory versus the Seminoles.
“Obviously got a great win and it’s always good when all of your team gets a chance to play,” Stetson coach Donnie Jones said, per the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “I loved how we played the game, regardless of the score. I think we were really trying to get better today and playing unselfishly.”
–Field Level Media
