No. 3 Florida will return to the warm embrace of home, with national championship vibes all around, as they face North Florida on Thursday at Gainesville, Fla.
In their season opener at Las Vegas on Monday, the Gators led No. 13 Arizona by as many as 12 points on multiple occasions in the early going but the defending champs fell behind before halftime and dropped a 93-87 decision.
Possessing plenty of size in Micah Handlogten (7-foot-1), Alex Condon (6-11), Rueben Chinyelu (6-10), and Thomas Haugh (6-9), the Gators could not find a way to use that to their advantage and stop Arizona freshman Koa Peat.
Making his college debut, Peat scored 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting, with seven rebounds and five assists, all while playing 36 minutes.
“I think they did a good job matching us that way,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said of the Wildcats. “Usually, we deliver the physicality that way. I thought Peat was really the biggest one. …(He) just used his physicality and did a great job being close to the rim.”
After he scored 27, Haugh promised a better inside presence moving forward.
“I think our bigs, as a group, we know we need to be the best front court in the nation this year,” said Haugh, a junior whose role expanded last season leading to 9.8 points per game. “We can’t let somebody like that come out here and score 30 points on us. It’s not acceptable, and it won’t happen moving forward.”
Transfer Xaivian Lee, a three-year player at Princeton, had 14 points in his Florida debut, while Handlogten and Alex Condon tallied 11 apiece. Handlogten added a game-high 12 rebounds.
After 16 years guiding North Florida and accumulating three ASUN regular-season titles and one tournament championship, three-time ASUN Coach of the Year Matt Driscoll left in May to become the associate head coach at Kansas State.
Bobby Kennen now has the head coach role for the Osprey and said his squad is deep but will need steady guidance to remain on track. The team was 15-17 overall last season.
“The biggest overall improvement needs to be consistency,” said Kennen, now in his 17th consecutive season with the program. “Last year we were kind of up and down a little bit. We’ve got to get better on the defensive end of the floor, (and) we’ve got to do a little bit better job with shot selection on the offensive end.”
Senior guard Kamrin Oriol averaged 7.3 points per game in 32 games last season. He is the club’s top scorer and will have to be a vocal leader as well.
“These are the things you pray for and hope for,” said Oriol, a St. Petersburg, Fla., product who started collegiately at The Master’s University, an NAIA program in the Los Angeles area. “When it’s finally here, you just got to take advantage of it, and I’m excited to be able to have that role. I’ve worked my whole life for it.”
New sophomore guard Kent Jackson averaged 2.7 points for Jacksonville last season and will play in the backcourt with Oriol.