Florida basketball will look to build off its strong start to the 2024-25 season when it faces Wichita State in the finals of the ESPN Events Invitational on Friday afternoon in Kissimmee.
The No. 16 Florida Gators (7-0) are off to their best start since 2012-13, when UF began the season 8-0.
Florida advanced to the tournament finals with a 75-58 win over Wake Forest at the Milk House on Thursday. Up 32-28 at halftime, the Gators took control of the game with a 10-0 run to start the second half, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from senior guard Walter Clayton Jr.
Clayton led four UF scorers in double figures with 21 points, with guard Alijah Martin adding 16 points, guard Will Richard scoring 14 points and forward Alex Condon had 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Defensively, Florida held Wake Forest (6-2) to 37.5% shooting while recording 10 steals.
“That’s been a big emphasis for us this year, just being better defensively. Obviously, we had Alijah [Martin] come in this year, and he’s a great defender. He’s been setting the tone for us, so just getting everybody to play hard. We had great communication today, and I think that was a big part of it.”
Wichita State (6-0) reached the tournament finals with a 68-66 overtime win over Minnesota. Six-foot-five swingman Harlond Beverly led four Wichita State scorers with 16 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds left that sent the game to overtime.
Florida is 2-0 all-time against Wichita State and facing the Shockers for the first time since 1993. In the last meeting between the two schools, Florida beat Wichita State 83-58 on Jan. 26, 1993 in Gainesville.
Florida basketball vs Wichita State start time
Florida and Wake Forest are slated to tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday from the Milk House in Kissimmee, Fla. (capacity, 5.000).
Florida basketball vs Wichita State game odds
Per BetMGM, Florida is a 9,5-point favorite over Wichita State. The over/under is 153.5 points.
What channel is the Florida basketball vs Wichita State game on today?
Florida and Southern Illinois will air on ESPN and stream on WatchESPN.com. Kevin Fitzgerald will handle the play-by-play duties with Daymeon Fishback as the color analyst.
How to listen to Florida basketball vs Wichita State game on radio
The Florida-Wake Forest game will air on AM 850 and FM 98.1 in Gainesville and across the state on the Gator Radio Network. Sean Kelley will handle play-by-play duties, with former Gator great Lee Humphrey as the color analyst.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Watch Florida basketball vs Wichita State game today: Channel, time, streaming info
