Tony Bennett got an easy opening 40 minutes on Monday with the 80-50 win over Tarleton State to get a feel for his new-look roster and rotation.
Next up for Virginia: a Florida team that will give the ‘Hoos their first test of the 2023-2024 season.
The game tips at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
Chris Graham on UVA Basketball
KenPom.com has Florida (1-0) 41st nationally, 12 spots below Virginia (1-0), at 29th.
The Gators, who won their opener on Monday, defeating Loyola Md., 93-73, were projected to finish eighth in the SEC in the preseason, which would have them likely on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, given the depth of that conference.
UF coach Todd Golden is, like Bennett, still getting a feel for a new-look roster that has three transfers in the starting lineup and two freshmen getting bench minutes in his eight-man rotation.
The backcourt features 6’5” sophomore guard Riley Kugel, who averaged 9.9 points a game as a freshman in 2022-2023, and shot 37.6 percent from three last season.
Kugel led the Gators with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting in 34 minutes in the opener on Monday.
The point guard is 6’2” Iona transfer Walter Clayton, who averaged 16.8 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting from the floor and 43.1 percent from three for Rick Pitino in 2022-2023.
Clayton had nine points, six rebounds and five assists in the season opener.
The other starter in the backcourt is 6’4” junior Will Richard, who averaged 10.4 points per game last season, on 49.3 percent shooting from the floor and 39.8 percent from three.
Richard had a quiet night in the opener – three points on 1-of-4 shooting in 30 minutes.
6’5” sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen got 16 minutes off the bench in the opener, also scoring three points.
Last season, Aberdeen averaged 3.4 minutes per game in 12 appearances for the Gators.
The frontcourt is … large, and a couple of the big guys can shoot it.
Marshall transfer Micah Handlogten, a 7’1” sophomore, had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 shooting from three in the win over Loyola.
The shooting from three is something new for Handlogten, who made one of his 12 attempts from behind the arc as a freshman last year.
The other big in the frontcourt is Seton Hall grad transfer Tyrese Samuel, a 6’10”, 239-pounder who averaged 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Pirates last season, and had 15 points and eight boards in the season opener.
The first big off the bench is another tall fellow – 6’11” freshman Alex Condon, who had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three, in the opener.
Golden also got 16 minutes off the bench from 6’9” freshman Thomas Haugh, who had six points in the opener.
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