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Florida 71, #20 Florida State 55
Box Score<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_11_14_Florida-5FState-5Fvs-5FFlorida.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=EMOXA08-qlQj6fXeR7vLYrILIGifAT9YIM2ywIMD2uhjA140AK8EmXAVYOM6YroY&s=tZEzAEvyVM3ntDVo1N8oZwhJdi54eCdlbXv1ISVDAhs&e= > | Season Stats<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_11_9_2021-5F22-5FUFStats.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=EMOXA08-qlQj6fXeR7vLYrILIGifAT9YIM2ywIMD2uhjA140AK8EmXAVYOM6YroY&s=pGmzNmtmgfnDZ6dIto6LBeQSBXLCFfNrAYRukoYfCzg&e= >
Notable
* Florida and Florida State battled through 14 lead changes, until a 13-0 run put the Gators up 56-44 with 8:07 to play.
* Florida outscored FSU 28-11 over the final 11 minutes of the game.
* Colin Castleton earned his fourth career double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds and added six blocked shots.
* He joins Joakim Noah as the only Gators since 1996 to post a 15/15/5 stat line (21/15/5 vs. Villanova on 3/2/06).
* Florida blocked 10 shots for the second time in as many games this season and the 10th time under White, a mark the team did not reach between Dec. 17, 2006, (vs. FAMU) and Nov. 27, 2015 (vs. FGCU).
* Florida picked up the SEC’s first top-25 win of the season, a victory that marked the Gators’ 19th top-25 win under Mike White and the seventh of those to come at home. Six of those seven top-25 home wins have come by a margin of 13+ points.
* AP top-25 home wins under White:
* 1/30/16, vs. #9 West Virginia, 88-71
* 2/4/17, vs. #8 Kentucky, 88-66
* 2/24/18, vs/ #12 Auburn, 72-66
* 3/3/18, vs. #23 Kentucky, 80-67
* 1/18/20, vs. #4 Auburn, 69-47
* 1/19/21, vs. #6 Tennessee, 75-49
* 11/14/21, vs. #20 Florida State, 71-55
Head Coach Mike White
On the 28-9 run in the second half…
“We tried to simplify our approach a little bit offensively. They’re so disruptive. They’re terrific defensively, one of the best defensive programs in the country, of course, year in and year out. I thought we pressed the right button leading into this one and in the first half. All of us collectively, players included, just made some subtle adjustments. From then on, it’s a matter of whether we could deliver it to them or not. Colin [Castleton] played with some mismatches there in the second half, which allowed us some scores, but it also allowed us to attack some close outs. Some of those drive and kick threes were because of the attention that he demanded on the interior. I thought he was terrific offensively… Finishing some stops, getting out in transition, and made some solid decisions, again, with drive and kicks. The guards played pretty well. It wasn’t perfect, of course. I’m sure both teams, this early in the season, will learn a lot from in terms of what we see from the film.”
On Anthony Duruji setting the tone…
“Duruji is as consistent as a guy in practice that we’ve had. It’s started to carry over to games, of course, this year. The married man, Mr. Ruji… He was really good and brought great energy. We were able to play some small ball with him. He literally guarded one through five for a lot of the game, as did Osborne for them. He stepped up and made some big shots and he continues to be on the offensive glass.”
On importance of environment…
“It was rockin’. It was an incredible college basketball environment. It fueled our guys. Honestly, we’ve got to get used again to playing in front of that decibel level, in front of that electricity, because although it did fuel us, it did. It was definitely a significant home court advantage and I’m very appreciative to all our fans that came, and to the Rowdies and to our administration. At times, we got so hyped up, that said, a couple ill-advised fouls. We’ve got to continue to learn how to play really, really hard, but channel our emotions, not play emotionally. It’s okay to show some emotions, but between whistles, we’ve got to play disciplined. We’ve got to do what we do in practice, where there are no Rowdies, right. But, very thankful, again, to our fans. It was a really fun environment for our kids to play in front of.”
On whether the environment was contagious for Brandon McKissic and other new guys…
“Believe it or not, he’s like that with you and seven other people at practice. Yeah, those guys are going to have to learn to adjust, of course, to these environments. And not only our environment, but the road environment where it’s same thing. It’s next play mentality, it’s channel your emotions, it’s not getting in our feelings… We can’t get too high and we can’t get too low. That goes for home games, that goes for road games. We’ve got a great set of home environments in the SEC. We’ll play in some nonconference ones as well, and so I’m glad they got to experience it today. Especially the newcomers and even our freshmen. I’m sure that we all had fun. But, we’ve all got a lot to get better at. We’ve got a chance to be good, but it’s just so early. We’ve got a lot to learn.”
#12 Colin Castleton, Senior Forward
On the team’s defensive performance…
“It was everything for us, I think. We have a really good group of guys who like playing defense. All of our guards have that grit and that nastiness about them. They just play really well on ball defense. They get deflections and they make it rough for their guards, as you saw today. They turned the ball over. They make it easy for me because they drive in there and then they throw stuff up. I just do what I have to do which is block shots and play good defense around the rim. They make it a lot easier on me for sure.”
On how they beat Florida State…
“I don’t feel like we beat them at their game. They bring a certain type of energy that they bring every year, but I feel like we just played the way we play. This year, it’s a different team. We have a different mentality. We really didn’t care about what they were going to bring. It was about us and how hard we were going to play, how tough we were, how much heart we had, and we felt like we brought more of that than they did. That helped us get the win. We did a lot of more things that helped us win the game – played together and played for one another. We were really focused on ourselves. We obviously scout and we know what they’re about, but I feel like we brought it the whole game and we just played a really good game.”
On Keyontae Johnson…
“It meant everything. We came into this game knowing what happened last year and we just played our hearts out for him. Everything was for him. We didn’t really care about ourselves individually. We know how bad he really wanted to play in that game. We talked to him before the game and we could just tell that maybe he was a little down about it, but he keeps that same mentality. He loves us and he just shows his emotion on the bench. Everything was for him and Coach White. It’s been a long drought, but we flipped that narrative quickly. It was just a big win for Keyontae for sure.”
#4 Anthony Duruji, Senior Forward
On beating Florida State…
“We came with a lot of energy. This game was really personal. We just got it done today. I’m glad that we took the win. A lot of factors. It’s been, I think, seven years since we beat FSU. It’s a rivalry, so we knew we had to come prepared as we did. I’m just glad, again, that we won.”
On the second-half run…
“Well, the defense is what was working for us. We have a lot of stops. We were disciplined and that led to easy offense. We had the momentum the whole way. We stayed together, played for each other and took the shots as we prepared for. That’s what worked.”
On Colin’s performance…
“That’s really huge. I think Colin had [at least] 14 rebounds, if I’m not mistaken. That’s extra points right there. That’s extra possessions. They can’t handle him down there. When everyone was drawn to him, that led to easy kickouts and open threes. We were able to knock down shots in the second half.”
