Gators to play first collegiate game ever in new Amway Arena

Posted Jun 22, 2010 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Jun 22, 2010 at 03:01 PM

When the Florida Gators men’s basketball team plays the University of Central Florida on Dec. 1, not only will it be the first time UF plays the Golden Knights in Orlando, but it will also be the first collegiate event at the new $380 million Amway Arena, announced Florida Citrus Sports.

That game will be the second inaugural collegiate event for the Gators men’s squad in Disney country. The first came against Stanford on Dec. 4, 1989, in the current Amway Arena.

Although it will be the first time UCF and the Gators go head to head in the middle of the state, the two teams are familiar with each other. Florida boasts a 9-0 record against the Golden Knights – 7-0 in Gainesville, 2-0 in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum –  and Donnie Jones, an assistant at UF from 1996-2007, is the head coach of UCF.