<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2q5rP8_1H39qAtP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2q5rP8_1H39qAtP00" width="1440" height="960" ></figure><h2>No. 1 Florida vs. Merrimack</h2><ul><li>When: Friday, 7 p.m. (ET)</li><li>Where: Tower Hill Arena / Gainesville, Fla.</li><li>Records: Florida (3-0) / Merrimack (1-2)</li><li>Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 3-0. The Gators defeated the Warriors 80-45 on Nov. 21, 2025 behind junior center Rueben Chinyelu's 14 points and 21 rebounds, the latter being the most by a UF player in 31 years. </li><li>TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan and Mark Wise)</li><li>Radio: Gator Sports Network (Stations list) with Kevin Winter and Lee Humphrey</li></ul><h2>Projected Starters</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1ad4L5_1H39qAtP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ad4L5_1H39qAtP00" width="1333" height="889" ><figcaption>Denzel Aberdeen (1)</figcaption></figure>FloridaPlayer Pos. Ht / Wt Class StatsAlex Condon F 7-0 / 236 Sr 10.7 pts / 9.7 rebRueben Chinyelu C 6-10 / 265 Sr 11.7 pts / 9.3 rebThomas Haugh F 6-9 / 215 Sr 18.0 pts / 9.0 rebDenzel Aberdeen G 6-5 / 190 5th 8.7 pts / 1.0 rebBoogie Fland G 6-3 / 185 Jr 10.0 pts / 3.0 reb / 3.7 astMerrimackPlayer Pos. Ht / Wt Class StatsElijah Wilborn F 6-8 / 255 Sr 4.3 pts / 3.0 rebTodd Brogna F 6-7 / 225 Sr 5.0 pts / 5.0 rebA.J. Lesburt Jr. G 6-5 / 195 Sr 14.0 pts / 3.7 rebDenver Aglin G 6-1 / 185 Sr 10.3 pts / 1.7 reb Ayden Johnson G 5-10 / 165 Fr 7.7 pts / 1.3 reb / 2.0 ast<h2>The Setup</h2><ul><li>Top-ranked Florida and visiting Merrimack meet for the third time in four seasons. The Gators are coming off Tuesday night's 81-72 road win at rival Florida State, while the Warriors, out of the Metro Conference, picked up their first win of the season with a 73-60 road victory Sunday at Albany. </li><li>The Gators are atop the KenPom.com rankings for the first time since 2014. They are one of the few power conference teams in the country with two games against fellow power conference opponents (wins over Miami and FSU), so this one figures to be something of a respite, what with Merrimack checking in at No. 261 in KenPom.</li><li>UF seeks its second 4-0 start under Coach Todd Golden, with a mega-difficult road trip to follow at The Players next week in Las Vegas, where the Gators will play three games in three days and, pending tournament results, could face two of the top five teams in the nation. </li></ul><h2>Tale of the Tape</h2>Florida Statistics Merrimack82.0 Scoring 61.0445 Field-goal percentage .414.392 3-point percentage .29465.3 Scoring defense 64.7.374 Field-goal percentage defense .426.237 3-point percentage defense .2841st KenPom.com overall ranking 261st2nd KenPom.com offensive efficiency 300th6th KenPom.com defensive efficiency 185th121st KenPom.com adjusted tempo 360thNA NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking NA59th Overall strength of schedule ranking 295th<h2>The Breakdown </h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3uWS03_1H39qAtP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3uWS03_1H39qAtP00" width="1500" height="1714" ><figcaption>Domen Petrovic</figcaption></figure>About the Gators<ul><li>Their performance in Tallahassee wasn't great, but it definitely showed toughness on the part of the nation's No. 1 team. The place was sold out, the environment was rocking and the Seminoles, much improved from a season ago, were up for the challenge. The Gators took some early punches, then took the lead for good late in the first half and -- great news here -- closed out the win with clutch shooting at the free-throw line (27 of 33 in the second half, including 18 straight at one point). UF entered the game shooting just 62.9% at the line, but hit 73.2% for the game. </li><li>UF got a little banged up against the Seminoles, with point guard Boogie Fland (14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers in 33 minutes) dealing with a sore shoulder and forward Alex Condon (9 points, 10 rebounds, 5 turnovers in 34 minutes) still smarting -- but playing through -- some pain from a nasty fall he took in the win against Jacksonville. In a perfect world, this game could provide an opportunity for a good portion of backup minutes at their spots. </li><li>Forward Thomas Haugh heads into the weekend ranked No. 1 in KenPom's Player of the Year standings. He posted his second double-double at FSU with 21 points and 10 rebounds and is shooting 51.7% from the floor, 50% from the 3-point line (9 of 18), but needs to up his 68% at the free-throw line, where he hit 74.5% over his first three seasons. </li><li>Center Rueben Chinyelu had just eight points and six boards over 31 minutes, but completely neutralized FSU's gigantic freshman center Marcis Ponder (4 points, 3 rebounds, 21 minutes) and helped his team out-rebound one of the nation's tallest squads 41-29. Guard Denzel Aberdeen (38.5% from 3 on the season) had just seven points, but teamed with Fland for some outstanding backcourt defense. Backup guard Urban Klavzar was just 1-for-7 from the floor, but scored 10 points by making all seven of his free throws and leading a UF bench that outscored FSU's 22-6. Junior wing Isaiah Brown (6.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg) had a huge 3-pointer in each half, while Domen Petrovic had three points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. </li></ul>About the Warriors<ul><li>It's a school of about 6,000 in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Warriors are in the 10th season (eighth in Division I) under Joe Gallo, who has navigated the Warriors to a 184-124 record while playing under two classifications and in four different conferences, three in D1: Northeast (5 seasons), Metro Atlantic Athletic (2) and now a first season in the rebranded Metro. Merrimack went 23-11 and won the league regular-season crown last season with a 17-3 mark in the conference, but lost to Siena in the MAAC Tournament title game (and with it the league's coinciding automatic NCAA bid). Star freshman guard Kevair Kennedy, the 2026 MAAC Player of the Year, transferred to Wake Forest last spring, and No. 2 scorer Ernest Shelton bolted for Boston College.</li><li>The Warriors are in for a long night on the glass. Their average height of 6-6 is taller than only four of the 365 teams in D1 basketball. Merrimack's average rebound margin through three games is minus-10. The Warriors had just 21 boards and were minus-16 on the glass even in victory.</li><li>Merrimack lost five of their top six scorers off a team that finished a very respectable 178th in KenPom last season. Forward Todd Brogna is the lone exception, but his role is more of a defender. He's only attempted nine shots this season. Guard A.J. Lesburt Jr., by way of Brown, has shot just 32.%% to date, but is 9-for-21 from deep (39%). Guard Denver Anglin played at Iona last season, but before that was at Rice and shot nearly 38% on 164 3-point attempts. </li></ul><h2>Numbers of Note </h2>* plus-18.1 — UF's improved 3-point percentage through three games this season versus through three last season. The Gators started '25-26 by making just 19 of 90 attempts from deep (21.1%) in losses to Arizona at Las Vegas and home wins against North Florida and FSU. Through three games in '26-27, UF has dropped 31 of 79 from 3 and sits at 39.2%. * 31 — Free throws made by the Gators in a 102-88 upset over 19th-ranked Alabama in the 2024 SEC Tournament, which was the last time they hit at least 30 in a game before doing so Tuesday night at Florida State. In that '24 game, UF finished 31 of 36 for 86.1%, with guards Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin combining to go 21-for-22. * 1994 — On Jan. 18 of that year, UF forward Andrew DeClercq grabbed 20 rebounds in a 59-57 win over No. 7 Kentucky at the O'Connell Center. That performance by DeClercq, who helped lead the Gators to their first Final Four that season, stood as the last by a Florida player to grab at least 20 rebounds in a game before Chinyelu did so against Merrimack last season. Chinyelu hit the 20-rebound mark three times during the '25-26 campaign. <h2>Bottom Line</h2>This one should (and better) look a lot like the Jacksonville game, with starters logging no more than mid-20 minutes and plenty of time for the deep-bench guys. Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Catch up on the Gators with more of his stories on FloridaGators.com.</div></body>

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When: Friday, 7 p.m. (ET) Where: Tower Hill Arena / Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (3-0) / Merrimack (1-2) Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 3-0. The Gators defeated the Warriors 80-45 on Nov. 21, 2025 behind junior center Rueben Chinyelu's 14 points and 21 rebounds, the latter being the most by a UF player in 31 years.

No. 1 Florida vs Merrimack (Friday, 7 pm)

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When: Friday, 7 p.m. (ET) Where: Tower Hill Arena / Gainesville, Fla. Records: Florida (3-0) / Merrimack (1-2) Series/Last meeting: Florida leads 3-0. The 

No. 1 Florida vs Merrimack (Friday, 7 pm)

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