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Florida’s Riley Kugel joins exclusive club with strong showing to open season
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Florida began its 2023-24 basketball campaign with a convincing 93-73 win over Loyola-MD, in large part thanks to the efforts of sophomore guard Riley Kugel.
The Orlando native finished with a team-high in points (23), steals (6) and field goals made (10), and he added on a block and 3 rebounds as well.
He also put his name alongside some college basketball greats with those gaudy numbers:
.@RileyKugel is the first @GatorsMBK player & 4th SEC player this century to post 23 points, 6 steals & a blocked shot in a game.
He also joins @Nick_Calathes15 , @TheCoreyBrewer & Michael Frazier II as the only Gators with a 20-point, 6-steal game since 1996 (Donovan hire).
— Denver Parler (@denverparler) November 7, 2023
Kugel went through a season of adjusting to the college game as a freshman in 2022-23, although he still became a mainstay in the rotation by the end of the campaign. He averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1 assist and 23 minutes per game as a freshman under then-new head coach Todd Golden, and his role figures to expand this season.
After missing out on the NCAA Tournament in 2023, the Gators are hell-bent on making it back to the big dance this time around. On Friday, Kugel and Co. will take on Virginia in Charlotte at 7:00 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
Current Missouri student entering my third year of covering Tiger football and basketball. Contributor to The Transfer Portal CFB and overall college athletics enthusiast.
