GAINESVILLE — Beating John Calipari on the road last season was a huge milestone for Todd Golden, Florida coach and its program.
A win now against Coach Cal away from Gainesville could signal a natural progression for Golden’s booming Gators.
Calipari’s surprising offseason move from Kentucky to Arkansas makes the SEC’s winningest coach an easier mark than with the Wildcats, who won the 2015 national title and a dozen conference crowns — six each during the regular season and conference tournament – during his stay.
The No. 8 Gators (14-1, 1-1) aim to take the lead Saturday in Fayetteville and build on 73-43 rout Tuesday night of top-ranked Tennessee.
“It was an incredible victory; obviously a great win in building a program that speaks volumes about where we are,” Golden said Friday. “But if it’s April and we’re talking about us winning against Tennessee in January, we didn’t do what we wanted to do.”
The Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2) have yet to find their rhythm but are generally tough at Bud Walton Arena, where UF has lost two straight and is winless since 2019.
An 89-87 victory Dec. 11 over Michigan in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden was remarkable. Otherwise, Arkansas is 0-4 against other ranked opponents in Quad 1 in the NCAA Net Rankingsincluding a 73-66 loss Wednesday night at home to Ole Miss.
Calipari’s teams, made up of mostly freshmen who worked for more than a decade at Kentucky, generally improve as the season goes on.
“They have some really talented guards, and they’re long, they’re athletic, they’re really good around the rim — and usually his teams play that way,” Golden said. “As the year goes on, they will continue to take on more and more of their identity.”
However, the game is not in Cal’s favor either.
The 5-star prospects who have flocked to Lexington to play for Big Blue Nation are going to need some convincing to head to the Ozarks.
Forward Adou Theiro, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound junior, followed Calipari to Fayetteville and reached team highs in points (16.9), rebounds (5.9) and steals (2). Sophomore guard DJ Wagner, who averages 10.5 points, also played last season at Kentucky. True freshman point guard Boogie Fland, a top-25 2024 recruit in the Bronx, is averaging 15.5 points and 5.9 assists, second in the SEC.
The Razorbacks suffer a decline from there.
Meanwhile, the Gators’ wealth of options is one of their calling cards.
As leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. struggles to reach his career-low 7 points, backup Denzel Aberdeen scored 16 points, a season high. Led by a career-high 15 boards of directors, sophomore center Rueben ChinyeluUF held a 56-37 rebounding advantage against a Vols team entering with a plus-10.4 margin during its 14-0 start.
After holding Kentucky to 58 percent shooting in a 106-100 loss last Saturday at Rupp Arena, UF held Tennessee to 13.8 percent shooting to take a 34-15 lead at the halftime and ultimately 37 points below his season scoring average (79.8).
“You play a game and you learn from it,” Chinyelu said Friday. “You take what you need to learn and move on. If you don’t do well, that’s in the past.
“If you cry, it doesn’t change the situation.”
Florida used momentum from a 94-91 victory Jan. 31 at Rupp Arena against Calipari’s last-place Kentucky team to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
The current Gators are effectively a lock for the Big Dance. But an SEC road win against a Hall of Fame coach learning the lay of the field in a new environment would be another sign of progress.
“You just have to keep putting in a really good effort,” Golden said. “It’s always been tough in college basketball to hit the road and be successful, but this league, this season, is even tougher that way.”
Edgar Thompson can be contacted at [email protected]
To be continued…
Florida to Arkansas
When: 4, Saturday
TV:ESPN
