Florida Gators sophomore Will Reichard will miss Wednesday night matchup vs FAMU due to injury

Florida Gators sophomore guard Will Reichard will miss Wednesday night’s game against Florida A&M with a left knee bruise. Fifth year point guard Kyle Lofton (back) has also been scratched from the lineup, according to Chris Harry of www.floridagators.com. True freshman guard Riley Kugel is making his first career start Wednesday night on his 19th birthday. The game is being televised on ESPN plus.

Losing both players is big, as both Reichard and Lofton average over 30 minutes per game for the Gators. Reichard has been averaging 13.6 points per outing while grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game. His best game during the 2022 season came against Xavier, when he poured in 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Luckily, the Gators should be able to get past Florida A&M without their top two guards. If there ever was a team that you’d like to face without your top two guards, the Florida A&M Rattlers are it. Big man Colin Castleton should be able to carry the load in their absence and several other players should step up.

Florida was scorching hot in the first half

Florida was up 50-31 at halftime against Florida A&M. Castleton dumped in six points and dished out four assists in the opening half. Trey Bonham (17 points) and Kowacie Reeves (15 points) chipped in double digits in the first half. Florida enjoyed some scorching hot shooting in the opening half–shooting 69% from the field, including 67% from three-point range. Bonham connected on all five of his three-point attempts in 17 minutes of work.

Thus far, Castleton has dished out five assists, tying a career-high. He also swatted four blocks. It just demonstrates how complete of a big man he is. Alex Fudge has also had a couple of nice dunks in the blowout. The game hasn’t been close for much of the contest. Next up, Florida will face Stetson on Dec. 4 at 2:00 PM EST.