Showtime at the O’Dome: McMiller’s Career-High 42 Powers Florida Past UCF, 95-65

By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com and host of The Gator Lowdown with Loren Meadows

This evening, Florida’s basketball teams took part in a rare doubleheader that saw the Florida women take on UCF, followed by the top-ranked men’s basketball team facing Jacksonville and former Florida assistant Jordan Mincey. While fans, including the Rowdy Reptiles, showed up to get a good seat for the men’s home opener, what they got was an Allen Iverson-, Dawn Staley- and Caitlin Clark-like show from junior point guard Kiyomi McMiller. The second-team preseason All-SEC pick from Silver Springs, Maryland, was all in her bag tonight with a quick first step, elite ball handling and efficient scoring on her way to a career-high 42-point explosion that led Florida to a 95-65 win over UCF. McMiller’s 42 points were the fourth-highest output in Gators history. Following a 31-point effort Monday against Bucknell, she became just the fifth player in school history to score 30 or more points in back-to-back games.

McMiller was electric, and the Rowdy Reptiles chanted “32! 32!” in appreciation of her effort. As the point total grew to 37, the chant changed to “40! 40!” in anticipation of the career milestone. With the swish of a wing three, the student section went into a frenzy and McMiller boldly introduced herself to the Gator faithful. When discussing her historic night, McMiller said:

“I think it was big for me to get my three-ball going early. I think it gave us all energy, just coming out and knocking that down off the jump. From the beginning our mindset was to kill ’em and don’t stop. Just keep attacking them, and attacking them, and attacking them. Just keep going until they stop me. It just feels like you can’t miss. Anything you put up is going in.”

While McMiller was dealing from the perimeter, her partner in crime, Vivian Iwuchukwu, was handling business down low with a career-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. Iwuchukwu averaged just 2.9 points per game last season in a more workmanlike role at USC. She has been asked to take on more of an offensive role with the Gators and credits her offseason work for the increased output:

“It all started from the summertime. Obviously, this is a new role for me, but the coaches really prepared me to excel in the role. All summer, I really worked on that. Worked on my craft, my game, one-on-one, knowing when to kick it out. But I’m molding in it so well because I prepared all summer for it.”

Regardless of the performances, what coach Tammi Reiss was most pleased with was the energy of both her team and the O’Dome crowd:

“You know I love being a part of Gator Nation, the Gator family. It’s one of the greatest sports environments in college athletics. The brand is unbelievable, so I want them coming out and supporting us. They come out to every sport here — you see them at softball, volleyball, baseball. So I love the fact that they knew it was a doubleheader and they came to get their seats for the men’s game, but I am hoping, like Vivian said, you build it brick by brick and then by the time you’re competing for championships, this O’Dome is sold out. That is our goal, seat by seat, fan by fan, but there is nothing like having students. It is a different atmosphere. I love the ruckus and I hope they keep coming out and supporting us.”

The Florida women will take the show on the road for the first time this season when they face Chattanooga on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.