Calling the Hogs! Scouting report, prediction as No. 8 Florida basketball plays at Arkansas
Swampcast breaks down Florida football, Florida basketball vs No. 1 Tennessee
The Sun’s Kevin Brockway and Noah Ram discuss Florida football’s offseason and break down the UF-UT basketball matchup with Blue Ribbon Magazine editor Chris Dortch.
Florida basketball showed it belongs in the conversation with the elite teams in college basketball in the 2024-25 season with its 30-point rout over No. 1 Tennessee in its SEC home opener.
The No. 8 Florida Gators (14-1, 1-1 SEC) will look to build off that performance when they play Saturday at Arkansas (4 p.m. ET, Arkansas).
The Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2 SEC) are coming off a 73-66 home loss to No. 22 Ole Miss on Wednesday night. Under first-year coach John Calipari, Arkansas beat Miami and No. 23 Michigan during its non-conference schedule.
Calipari left Kentucky to coach at Arkansas after a leading the Wildcats to four Final Four appearances and a national championship in 15 seasons.
“Their team is very talented,” Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. “Like always, especially in Year 1 of a program, it takes time to get guys on the same page. It takes time to get guys comfortable playing with each other. I think they’re a team that’s going to be really dangerous especially as conference play continues on and those guys get more and more comfortable playing together.”
Florida starting center Rueben Chinyelu said he’s confident that UF won’t let down after its first win over a No. 1 team in the regular season in school history.
“It’s something to build on but that’s in the past,” Chinyelu said. “So what’s on my mind right now and what is on the coaches minds and my teammates’ minds is we are about to play Arkansas.”
Here are three storylines for Florida to watch against the Razorbacks:
Which defense will show up for Florida basketball at Arkansas?
Florida went from allowing 106 points on 57.8% shooting in its 106-100 loss at No. 7 Kentucky to giving up just 43 points on 21.4% shooting in its 73-43 win over No. 1 Tennessee. The 12 field goals Florida basketball allowed against the Vols was the fewest in an SEC game since March 2, 2005 against Georgia.
Playing defense back on the road presents a different challenge due to the potential for fatigue and foul trouble.
“Hoping for a defensive effort like our second game, as opposed to our first ― to start,” Golden said. “But yeah, going on the road is more difficult.”
Arkansas is averaging 79.4 points per game behind the backcourt tandem of sophomore D.J. Wagner (10.5 ppg, 2.0 3-pointers per game) and freshman Boogie Fland (15.5, 5.9 apg). Junior forward Adou Thiero (16.9 ppg) is another dangerous versatile wing player capable of scoring at all three levels.
“He’s one of those kind of unique hybrid forwards that can play the 3 or the 4 and he’s kind of a matchup problem regardless of who you have on him,” Golden said. “But if we can limit his room twos and kind of make him more of a skilled shooter finisher, not allow him to get to the foul line, those are going to be the things that I think will help us against him.
Can Florida basketball continue its dominance on the boards?
Florida’s plus-12.9 rebounding margin ranks second nationally, behind only Illinois (plus-13.3). UF has outrebounded six of its opponents by 15 or more and four of its opponents by 20 or more, led by the frontcourt starting tandem of sophomore forward Alex Condon (8.0 rpg) and Chinyelu (7.3 rpg).
“We really focus on rebounding pretty much every game,” Golden said. “We kind of think of that as an area where we’re gonna be able to give ourselves a little more margin for error across the board.”
The 6-foot-10, 260-pound Chinyelu is coming off a game in which he grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds against UT.
“We need Reuben to have another monster game on the glass where he just skies over everybody and grabs rebounds and finishes possessions for us,” Golden said. “But yeah, we have to win that rebounding game. We did against Kentucky; we did against Tennessee. And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t give ourselves a good chance that way on Saturday.”
Can Florida basketball continue to get a solid effort from its bench?
Behind 16 points from junior guard Denzel Aberdeen and seven points from sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, Florida outscored Tennessee 25-7 in bench points to pick up its win over the Vols. UF may need a similar effort at Arkansas to combat fatigue and foul trouble.
Prediction
Florida 70, Arkansas 64: Florida will improve to 2-1 on the road this season, outlasting the Hogs in a physical contest. UF’s backcourt trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard will put too much stress on an Arkansas squad that’s still finding its way under Calipari.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
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