Final: Florida 85, North Florida 55
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
No. 20 FLORIDA 85, NORTH FLORIDA 55
No. 20 FLORIDA 85, NORTH FLORIDA 55
WHAT HAPPENED: Senior forward Colin Castleton scored a career-high 26 points and the UF defense held the visiting Ospreys to just 34-percent shooting and forced 28 turnovers in Wednesday night's blowout victory at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Castleton was nine of 17 from the floor, 8-for-11 from the free-throw line and also pulled eight rebounds over 27 minutes on his way to leading the team in scoring for a fourth time in nine games. Senior guard Myreon Jones had 14 points and four rebounds, while fifth-year senior guard Tyree Appleby added 13 points and four steals off the bench. Florida wasn't great. Far from it. The Gators shot just 44.6 percent overall and had a third consecutive poor night from the 3-point line, with just five makes in 23 attempts (21.7 percent). That makes them a mere 14 of 71 over the previous three games (just 19.7 percent), but unlike the previous two games (and far from Monday night's disheartening defeat to previously winless Texas Southern) the Gators won this game. UF scored the first five points and never trailed. Along the way, the Gators demonstrated an element of hustle and hard play that was noticeably absent 48 hours earlier and cost them dearly in that brutal home loss against the previously winless Tigers of Southwestern Athletic Conference. Though UF shot only 40.6 percent in the first, the Gators went to the locker room with a 41-23 lead, having forced a whopping 18 turnovers -- carding 13 steals, which was a season-high even at the break -- and turning those Osprey miscues into 17 points. Florida, conversely, had just five turnovers by halftime and none led to UNF points.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Castleton was the centerpiece of the win, but this was more of an all-around team effort, given the place the program was mentally the last couple days. Of the 13 players who checked in, 10 of them scored.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Twenty-eight turnovers is a ton, obviously. On the other end, Florida had just 10 turnovers versus 14 assists, despite emptying the bench fairly early. It marked the first time in six games the Gators were on the positive side in their assist-to-turnover margin.
UP NEXT: Florida (7-2) steps up in competition this weekend when it travels to Brooklyn, N.Y., to face Maryland (5-4) in the third game of the Hall of Fame Basketball Invitational quadruple-header at Barclay's Center. The Gators have dealt with their share of adversity of late, but not like the Terrapins, who will go to the city on a three-game losing streak and barely a week removed from the shock of Coach Mark Turgeon resigning just eight games into his 11th season in College Park, Md.
Players Mentioned
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