GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Anthony Duruji and Tyree Appleby were both sensational Wednesday night. Good thing, too, because they had to be. If not them, then some other Florida Gators had to take their games to the next level after the news came down earlier in the day that senior forward Colin Castleton, the team's top scorer, rebounder and rim-protector, would not play in the home game against Mississippi State after suffering a shoulder injury at practice Tuesday.
With Castleton on the shelf, Duruji stepped up with a UF career-high 22 points, including 18 in the second half, and five steals, while Appleby tossed in 17 points and five assists to help key a second-half comeback and 80-72 victory at Exatech Arena. Freshman wing Kowacie Reeves, in his third career start, matched his career-best total of 14 points and guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. scored 10 points, dished five assists and grabbed a trio of rebounds in what not only was a second straight Southeastern Conference victory, but a second consecutive team-wide win. Four days after hitting 55 percent in a road win at South Carolina, UF chased it by making 51 percent, including 10-for-24 from the 3-point line (.417).
In the locker room, Duruji and Appleby were tabbed for post-game media duties. As they made their way through the O'Dome tunnels to the interview room, Duruji turned to his teammate and buddy.
"I think we got our swagger back," he said.
And they'll need it because they may not get their best player back for an extended time.
"It's significant," UF coach Mike White said of Castleton's injury.
Colin Castleton couldn't play, but he was a game-night presence cheering his teammates on from the UF bench.
Minus their 6-foot-11, 231-pound low-post presence — and his 15.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game — the Gators (11-6, 2-3) turned to 6-11, 285-pound backup center Jason Jitoboh, whose first career start didn't start out particularly well. He played five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and was hit with his fourth foul barely four minutes into the second.
To that point, Jitoboh had played just eight minutes, yet Florida managed to piece-meal the post, with a collection of turns from Duruji, as well as backup forward CJ Felder, seldom-seen forward Tuongthach Gatkek and defensive switches that left perimeter guys bodying up against 6-foot-11, 245-pound Tulu Smith (17 points, 6 rebounds) and one of the better front courts in the SEC.
The Gators stuck around, though, despite falling back by eight early in the second. Duruji hit two free throws to tie the game at 52 with 11:49 remaining and what started as a sparse O'Dome was suddenly lively and very much into the game. But no sooner had UF pulled even did MSU go on a 9-1 run, with Smith posting up for three of his team's four buckets, to take a 61-53 lead.
Again, Florida didn't go away, but rather ramped up its defensive intensity, working mostly from the Gators' preferred 2-2-1 press.
To that point, Mississippi State was shooting 58 percent from the floor. Over the final eight-plus minutes, the Bulldogs missed six of their final nine shots and turned the ball over five times.
"We made a lot of adjustments and threw a lot of things at them coming down the stretch," said Duruji, who went 6-for-8 from the floor, made two of his three shots from long distance and eight of nine free throws. "We went [2-2-1] pressure on them and I think that got them rattled. We stuck with that. We tried to deny [All-SEC point guard Iverson] Molinar the ball, stayed in the gaps and stayed active, like we know what we're capable of. That's our identity."
At UF's end, Reeves missed a 3-pointer, Bulldogs forward Cameron Matthews rebounded cleanly and casually tossed an outlet for Molinar (12 points, 5 assists). Fleming picked it off and stepped into a short jumper to break the Mississippi State momentum. And more.
The play sparked the home team, with Appleby dropping a 3-pointer and getting fouled and finishing a four-point play 90 seconds later. When Jitoboh threw down a dunk on a nice feed from Reeves the Bulldogs lead was just one, 64-63, with 6:29 remaining.
"We were in the huddle and I think everybody knew it was going to be hard to beat us," Appleby said.
Smith, again, posted for a bucket and a three-point MSU cushion, but then another slam by Jitoboh (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks in 16 minutes) cut the lead to one and, after a much-needed defensive stop at the MSU end, Fleming converted a couple free throws to give the Gators their first lead since just under the eight-minute mark of the first half. The Jitoboh play was followed by a midcourt steal and run-out layup by Duruji, who was fouled on the play and hit the free throw, as the crowd went nuts. Then Reeves hit his third 3 of the game and UF, with 10 straight points, led by seven with 3:44 to go. Consecutive pairs of free throws by Jitoboh and Reeves had the Gators up by 11 with 1:18 to go, as the home finished the game on a run of 23-8.
Forward Anthony Durujifinishes his steal-layup-foul sequence that came during the 10-run.
Cue the swagger. The kind the team was playing with — rooted in their collective defense — that fueled the six-game winning streak that started the season.
"It wasn't even full there tonight," White said when asked about Duruji's swagger observation. "Sometimes teams just deep down know. Sometimes your swagger can be affected in-game or from game-to-game."
And sometimes it takes adversity to band a team together and swagger up. The Gators certainly had that going for them. They could very well, relative to Castleton, have it going for them for a while longer.
In the interim, they'll have to lean on another and maybe get something different from someone different each game. Like they got Wednesday in a game they really needed.
"Sometimes we give a team too much credit. We're good too," Duruji said. "I think we're starting to get some things rolling, get some things growing. But we're a good basketball team."
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