How to watch: Florida Gators vs. East Carolina basketball
After dropping back-to-back games, the Florida Gators basketball team has won two straight. Can Todd Golden and Co. keep that trend going with the start of the SEC schedule just three weeks away?
Next up: East Carolina.
The Gators, now 6-3, play the Pirates (6-4) on Thursday night at 7 in Lakeland, Fla. The game will air on SEC Network, and it will also be streaming on fuboTV, which offers a free trial.
“Obviously, it would help us to win these games and finish up December, but it’s not life or death,” Golden said this week. “We’ll attack it that way, but it’s not the end of the world if we lose a game. We’re going to have plenty of chances to continue building. IF we can get to league play at 10-3, we’re going to be in really good position. If it’s 9-4, it won’t be the end of the world, but we’ll have 18 more opportunities to get one back, so to speak.”
Guard Walter Clayton Jr., who attended high school just down the road from Lakeland in Lake Wales, leads the Gators in scoring at 15.9 points per game. Three other Gators have double-figure scoring averages, including power-forward Tyrese Samuels, who’s at 14.2 points and 8.3 boards per game.
Florida’s balance is one of its great assets. Eight players average 4 or more points a game. Meanwhile, nine Gators average 10 or more minutes a game– and only one is over 30 a game.
Also of note, Florida Gators center Micah Handlogten, who injured his ankle Nov. 22, seems to be rounding back into form. He had eight points and 10 rebounds in last weekend’s win over Richmond.
“I thought he was great,” Golden said. “I didn’t think he looked great against Merrimack. He was moving around, but he looked a little tentative. And then on practice Thursday and Friday of last week, he was coming out of it. He was really good last Friday when we practiced down there and that gave us confidence that he’s be ready to go. That’s why we ripped him back in the starting lineup and I thought he played, a really, really good game.”
East Carolina has run hot and cold thus far, but lost to South Carolina by only six (68-62) five days ago. Guard RJ Felton, one of three Pirates who average in double-figures, scores 16.2 points a game and is second in rebounds (6.8).
