Handlogten May Be Back When Gators Host Merrimack Tonight

When evaluating the difference between a 7-0 start and Florida’s 4-3 record heading into tonight’s non-conference game with Merrimack (4-5) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (7 p.m., SEC Network+), the easy thing is to point to critical turnovers or missed shots in the final five minutes. There is a real possibility that the Gators could be unbeaten, however, if Todd Golden had a full roster to work with all seven games.

Zyon Pullin (13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists) wasn’t available for the 73-70 loss to Virginia. Micah Handlogten (8.0 points, 6.8 rebounds), the 7-1 transfer from Marshall, missed all but 39 seconds of the 95-91 loss to Baylor and all of the 82-71 loss to Wake Forest that was a close call until the final five minutes. Aleks Szymczyk (6-10, 250, SO) broke his foot during the summer and could be ready to go again in the next week or two.

With a full roster at his disposal, Golden has the kind of depth that is needed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season when Mike White was the head coach. The lack of depth up front has been telling in the losses to Baylor and Wake Forest. Tyrese Samuel (14.1 points, 8.3 rebounds) has been outstanding but 6-9 freshmen Thomas Haugh (4.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and 6-11 freshman Alex Condon (8.4 points, 4.7 rebounds) have worn down a bit under the grind late in games.

Getting Handlogten back will give Golden that experienced rim protector that has been missing and will allow a 4-man rotation that keeps the bigs fresher in late game situations. Of course, when Szymczyk is back, the Gators will have serious inside depth like they haven’t had in years.

For now, the focus is on Handlogten, who sprained his ankle against Baylor.

“Getting close,” Golden said Monday afternoon prior to practice. “I think an outside chance for tomorrow (Tuesday) night. We’ll see how practice goes today, but I feel good about this weekend for sure. Obviously, we want him back for tomorrow night, so we want to see him in practice.”

Both Haugh, who is scheduled to start against Merrimack, and Condon are much farther along as true freshmen than Golden could have anticipated, but they are freshmen. That means taking the good with some typical freshman moments. Haugh has a team-high 23 personal fouls while averaging 19 minutes per game. Condon has 19 fouls in 16.4 minutes per game. Golden will get a lot more mileage out of their 10 combined fouls when Handlogten is back in the lineup.

Although they’ve been a bit foul prone, Golden likes what he’s seen so far.

“The biggest thing is just that Condo and Tommy are getting a lot of reps,” Golden said. I think that we knew they were going to play a lot for us as we got into the season, but I think for them to be the best they can be this year, at least early on in the year, it’s going to be more of a coming off the bench, supplemental 15-20-25 minutes depending on the type of game. Not necessarily starting these guys and throwing them to the wolves against Baylor and against Wake Forest and seeing what happens, but both these guys are studs, man. Both those freshmen are studs. They’re further along than we anticipated. You want to have a little more maturity, a little more older guys in those games, but if we’re going to have young guys out there, those are the two we want.”

Despite not having a full roster to work with all season and having to play a short rotation in the front court in these last two losses, the Gators have played well enough that ESPN analyst and former Division I head coach Fran Fraschilla (Manhattan, St. John’s, New Mexico) calls them a “top 25 team” and one that will definitely make the NCAA Tournament field. With Handlogten and Szymcyk back, the Gators will have a 5-man rotation up front to go with a six-man rotation in the back court.

A full complement of players should help the Gators late in games when fatigue sets in against teams with a short bench.

“I think this team is really good,” Golden said. “We got to get healthy. I think getting back everybody on the floor together is really important. When we’ve been healthy, whether it’s our scrimmages (won against Miami and Florida International) or against Florida State, we played really, really well. And then without one key guy, whether it be ZP or Micah, we found a way to compete and do pretty well, but we just haven’t been able to push through and finish the way we want to and win all these games. So, just continuing to grow and, like I said, get buys back on the floor and hopefully get a more stable rotation, I think that’s something that will help us out as well.”

Statistically speaking: The Gators are averaging 84.1 points per game and outrebounding opponents by 7.1. The Gators average 16.3 assists and 13.4 turnovers per game. The Gators are shooting 47 percent overall from the floor, but only 32.9 percent from the 3-point line.

Walter Clayton Jr. leads the Gators in scoring at 15.6 per game to go with 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Riley Kugel is averaging 15.1 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 37.1 percent from the 3-point line. Tyrese Samuel is hitting 65 percent of his shots from the field.

Starting lineups

FLORIDA (4-3): Tyrese Samuel (6-10, 239, GR); Thomas Haugh (6-9, 210, FR); Riley Kugel (6-5, 207, SO); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, JR); Zyon Pullin (6-4, 206, GR)

Merrimack (4-5): Samba Diallo (6-7, 195, SR); Bryan Etumnu (6-7, 215, SO); Jordan Derkack (6-5, 205, SO); Devon Savage (6-4, 190, JR); Adam Clark (5-10, 155, FR)

AP top 25: 1. Arizona (7-0); 2. Kansas (7-1); 3. Houston (8-0); 4. Purdue (7-1); 5. UConn (7-1); 6. Baylor (8-0); 7. Gonzaga (6-1); 8. Marquette (6-2); 9. North Carolina (7-1); 10. Creighton (7-1); 11. Florida Atlantic (7-1); 12. Texas (6-1); 13. Colorado State (8-0); 14. BYU (7-0); 15. Miami (6-1); 16. Kentucky (6-2); 17. Tennessee (4-3); 18. James Madison (8-0); 19. Oklahoma (7-0); 20. Illinois (6-1); 22. Duke (5-3); 23. Wisconsin (6-2); 24. Clemson (7-0); 25. San Diego State (7-1)

Coaches top 25: 1. Arizona (7-0); 2. Houston (8-0); 3. Kansas (7-1); 4. Purdue (7-1); 5. UConn (7-1); 6. Baylor (8-0); 7. Marquette (6-2); 8. Gonzaga (6-1); 9. Florida Atlantic (7-1); 10. North Carolina (7-1); 11. Creighton (7-1); 12. Colorado State (8-0); 13. (Tie) Tennessee (4-3) and BYU (7-1); 15. Miami (6-1); 16. Texas (6-1); 17. Kentucky (6-2); 18. Illinois (6-1); 19. Texas A&M (6-2); 20. Clemson (7-0); 21. Duke (5-3); 22. Oklahoma (7-0); 23. Virginia (7-1); 24. James Madison (8-0); 25. Ohio State (7-1)

SEC basketball

Monday’s scores: Alabama (6-2) 89, Arkansas State (2-7) 65; Arkansas (6-3) 97, Furman (4-5) 83

Tuesday’s games: Merrimack (4-5) at FLORIDA (4-3); George Mason (7-1) at No. 17 Tennessee (4-3); Georgia Tech (4-3) at Georgia (5-3); Mount St. Mary’s (2-5) at Ole Miss (7-0)

Wednesday’s games: South Carolina (7-0) at No. 24 Clemson (7-0); San Francisco (5-3) at Vanderbilt (4-4); DePaul (1-6) at No. 21 Texas A&M (6-2)