Records: Florida 17-11 (7-8 SEC); #18 Arkansas 22-6 (11-4 SEC)
Next up for Florida: at Georgia, Saturday, Noon, ESPN2
Notable
* Colin Castleton went for a career-high 29 points, including 18 in the second half. He hit a season-high nine free throws on 10 attempts, drawing 11 fouls in the game.
* It marked Castleton’s third 20-point game of the season and seventh of his career.
* Castleton’s 29 points were the most by a Gator since Tre Mann’s 30 against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament (3/12/21) and the most in SEC regular season action since Jalen Hudson scored 33 vs. LSU (3/6/19).
* Tyree Appleby had another big game with 19 points and four assists, coming off his 26-point outing in the win against Auburn.
* Florida made its first four 3-point attempts and finished 8-for-25 beyond the arc for the game (.320).
Head Coach Mike White
On the physicality of the game…
“It is a high-level league with length, athleticism, physicality, and the best teams in the country. When you go in there with one hand, you are probably not going to get it… And we struggled with that all year. You can’t stress it more than we are stressing it. We can’t watch it on film more than we are watching it, either. Unfortunately, we have not embraced pursuing the ball aggressively with two hands as much as a team like Arkansas. With most of the fifty-fifty situations, they came up with the ball. I thought that was the difference in the game. We had some miscues with a couple of ball screen situations, transition defense in the second half, even off of makes, we were not good enough. The loose ball fight was one sided. Credit those guys, (Au’Diese) Toney in particular. It just seemed like when he got his hands on a basketball, he got it. Not only defensive rebounds, but loose-ball situations. We just have to be better than that.”
On Colin Castleton’s performance and level of toughness…
“Elite level. He’s playing with a significant injury. He’s 29 (points) and 11 (fouls drawn) against the best defense in the league. He’s leaving it all out there. He’s grown so much physically, but probably even more mentally with his maturity. He’s come a long way, but I’m proud of his growth… Very proud. He’ll tell you how far he’s come, and he knows it but we all have room for growth. But he’s a guy who’s had a lot of new-found success and figured out how to handle it. His game has morphed as well. He went through a phase where he was like, ‘I need to get it. Throw it to me, I’m going to score it.’ Well now, you’re the focal point of every scouting report this year, you have to become a better passer, deal with all the physicality, and now we have to play through you at times on the perimeter. He’s made a huge jump in a short period of time.”
#12 Colin Castleton, Senior Forward
On physicality of game…
“It was physical. They did a good job sometimes getting me out of my spots. I didn’t get as many rebounds as I should have. I only had six… We did a horrible job on the glass as a team and at certain times they just bullied us.”
On maintaining composure…
“You just get used to it. It’s a physical game, it’s what comes with it. You’ve just got to take it on the shoulder and run with it, literally. Just blow for blow, just take it, be physical back. Don’t back down from anybody because I don’t do that. Just push through it is all it is. It’s a mental thing.”
#4 Anthony Duruji, Senior Forward
On the remainder of the season…
“I would say we’ve just got to continue to respond and get better. I think there are some areas that we’ve grown in, but we’ve seen what we have to focus on. I think we need to dial in and continue to respond.”
On whether the team’s back is against the wall…
“I guess that’s the reality. We have to be desperate. We have to be urgent now. We’ve got another one coming up on Saturday, we’re off tomorrow. We’ve got to respond. Like I said, continue to get better and take advantage of these opportunities coming down.”
