GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – UPDATE, 1/11/24:  The Florida Gators men’s basketball team crumbled on the road against the Ole Miss Rebels, losing 103-85 in their Southeastern Conference contest Wednesday night in Oxford, Mississippi.

Florida (10-5, 0-2) returns home to play Arkansas (9-6, 0-2), which lost 76-66 Wednesday night at Georgia.

The UF-UA game Saturday tips off at 4 p.m. That’s one hour earlier than the original start time. The Gators have lost three straight against the Razorbacks, with the last win in the series back in 2020.

PREVIOUSLY, 1/10/24: The Gators are in Oxford, Mississippi, to take on Ole Miss for the first SEC road game of the season.

They’re coming off a close loss against Kentucky, losing their SEC home opener 85-87 last Saturday.

Ole Miss also started off conference play with a significant loss of 90-64 against Tennessee on the road. For them, Wednesday night’s game is their first SEC home game of the season and they’ll be looking to gain momentum after that tough loss in Knoxville.

Although Ole Miss lost to the Volunteers, it was their only loss of the season so far and they boast a record of 13-1. Florida is 10-4 currently with some non-conference losses plus a loss against Kentucky.

Even though it is early in conference play, some teams are at the top of SEC rankings with two wins in the conference so far. Those teams are Auburn (13-2), currently leading the rankings, followed by Kentucky (12-2), Alabama (10-5), and LSU (10-5).

Ole Miss is currently ranked eighth in the SEC and not far behind them holding the 10th spot is Florida.

The Gators are looking to make just a few small changes from their game against Kentucky to get them on track for Wednesday night.

“I think we’ll tighten it up a little bit in terms of what we run offensively or what we try to execute down the stretch,” stated Florida Head Coach Todd Golden.

Micah Handlogten added that they are aware of the Ole Miss’ physicality, especially under the basket, as well as their ability to block shots. He says it’s important that his team can “defend” that.

“It’s always just different going on the road. There’s just a different sense of, like, if you win that game then like you guys really did it,” added Handlogten.

The two will face off at 9 p.m. inside of the Sandy and John Black Pavilion on the University of Mississippi campus. You can watch them on SEC Network.