That Was Fun ... But it's Over

Thursday, November 18

Gainesville, FL

6 PM

Florida Gators

Milwaukee

Point guard Tyree Appleby was fired up by the result and crowd as the final seconds tick away in UF's 71-55 victory Sunday over rival Florida State.

That Was Fun ... But it's Over

Thursday, November 18, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After a well-deserved, much-needed day off Monday, the Florida basketball team began filing into the practice facility Tuesday to begin building on its lopsided and feel-good smashing of cross-state rival Florida State two days earlier. The Seminoles, of course, had won seven straight in the series, the last four in dominating fashion, but had the tables completely turned on them in as inspired a display of physicality and toughness as the Gators had put together in years.

Upon the players arrival, though, they were greeted with some advance — if not a warning — from their de facto coach. The one who can most relate to them.

"We've been here before," Keyontae Johnson told them.

One of the trumpeted signs of a team's toughness is how it responds to adversity. One of the lesser trumpeted signs is how it responds to prosperity. That's the Gators' charge right now and, frankly, their track record isn't great, as the leftovers from last year's squad can attest.

Rewind to Jan. 30, 2021. UF went to ninth-ranked West Virginia, played its finest game of the season and upset the 11th-ranked Mountaineers 85-80 to win a fourth straight victory. It was as impressive a road win as any in the country and the Gators were rewarded for it by being bumped into the Associated Press poll at No. 22.

Four nights later, they lost at home to a South Carolina team that was floating near the bottom of the Southeastern Conference standings.

Fast forward to present day. The Gators just won the kind of game and played in a manner that can set the tone for the rest of the season, and for their efforts were bumped to No. 24 in this week's AP rankings. So now comes a big-head test for the Gators (2-0), who will take on sneaky-talented Milwaukee (1-1) in a Thursday night non-league game at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center that will shine some early season light on just how grown up this veteran team of transfers is.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

So Johnson, in his ad hoc role of honorary coach, gave his teammates a history lesson.

"Keyontae told us to remember how the last time we won a big game everybody was 'Rah-Rah-Rah!' and we actually got ranked," fifth-year senior forward Anthony Duruji said. "Well, we're ranked again. What are we going to do now? Are we going to be complacent and play down to the level of competition? Or are we going to hold that standard and continue to get better?"

Toughness & heart 😤💙#GoGators | #GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/ZJeLwci92T
— Florida Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) November 14, 2021

That was pretty much the message from Coach Mike White after he was doused with a dozen water bottles in the victorious locker room Sunday. "Let's build on it," he said. The mantra was reiterated to the players who came in Monday for treatment and meetings with coaches, and it was the first item of business assistant Akeem Miskdeen put to them after practice Tuesday in presenting his scouting report of the Panthers.

"All that hoopla from Sunday? It's over," Miskdeen said. "We have to go 1-0 against Milwaukee. That's it."

The Panthers, out of the Horizon League, won't be a garden-variety, non-conference buy game, either. It's not often that one of the low- or mid-majors that fill out the pre-SEC slate in November and December come to the O'Dome armed with a McDonald's All American and potential one-and-done lottery pick, but that's what UW-M has in 6-foot-9 forward Patrick Baldwin, Jr.

He goes by "PBJ" and had his pick of any school in the country — three of his finalists were Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina — but chose to stay at home and play for his father, Panthers coach Patrick Baldwin, who is in his fifth season at UW-M and still looking for a first winning record. The kid has posted double-doubles in both his collegiate games thus far, but is off to a slow start shooting the ball; and not because he can't.

Baldwin will come in averaging 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds. The Panthers, with their program-making player, will come in looking for a program-making, signature victory. The 40-some NBA scouts who have requested credentials (including a couple general managers) will be looking at Baldwin.

The Gators need to make this game about themselves.

Milwaukee freshman forward **Patrick Baldwin Jr**. (23) was the No. 4-ranked prospect in the nation last season and already is being projected as a potential lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

"We already knew we were a good team, but we have to stay the course and just be us," said senior guard Myreon Jones, the transfer from Penn State who recalls the attention showered on the the Nittany Lions (a program not known for their hoops) when it made a rare appearance in the AP Top 25 his sophomore year. "I remember when we got ranked at Penn State our coach told us we'd gone from being the hunters to being the hunted."

Jones is one of four transfer players in their first season at UF. The Gators' top three players off last year's team are transfers, as well. Of those seven, only 6-11 senior forward Colin Castleton, by way of Michigan, came from a place that enjoyed big-time success. Castleton, though, played sparingly in his two seasons with the Wolverines, and now, as a focal point at Florida, he has s responsibility to help keep the Gators' egos in check. His included.

Castleton bullied the Seminoles for 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and six blocked shots, and Monday was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week. His Twitter and Instagram timelines were understably active with social media pats on the back in the aftermath of his performance.

"Everybody wanted to be my friend. It was nice. Thank you. I'm grateful. It was a great win and great atmosphere, but it's time to move on and keep the same mentality going into the next game," Castleton said. "Last year, we had a problem with that."

Anyone remember the win at Kentucky (just the 11th in program history) that was followed by an ugly home loss to Missouri?

And it wasn't just last year.

**Keyontae Johnson** can't play with his team, but he can celebrate with them, as he did against FSU. But he also provided his teammates with some wisdom on how to leave prosperity in the past, something the Gators have struggled with in recent years.

In 2019-20, the Gators destroyed Providence by 32 at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, then four days later lost to Utah State in Sunrise, Fla. That same UF team blasted fourth-ranked Auburn by 22, then dropped three straight in SEC play. In 2018-19, the Gators massacred Butler by 34 in their non-conference final, then opened SEC play with an at-the-buzzer loss to South Carolina at home.

Johnson, now a senior, was around for all those games and thus provided his wisdom, as did the men in the offices upstairs. How the Gators absorb the message, how they act on it, is up them.

"Like coach said, go 1-0 against Milwaukee," Duruji repeated. "That's all that matters right now.