Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_12_8_UNFvsUF.PDF&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=uNsaAB7BmWYblKm9aciNtvFgbLTXyVDFQBWIXOoo5ARCX9ptCKTuma8EFHY_HUKc&s=b1ZwA7jupX8jPCWdvvGQqQWxTGgAsb8yRLA-BlWe73g&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=uNsaAB7BmWYblKm9aciNtvFgbLTXyVDFQBWIXOoo5ARCX9ptCKTuma8EFHY_HUKc&s=yK6itlUTBFpxdumJ4TiSeMu3zo7GCuad2lROj1Tvff0&e= >
Notable
* Florida’s defense turned up the pressure, tallying the most steals (21) and forced turnovers (28) in a game under Mike White.
* UF’s 21 steals tied for fifth-most in program history and was the most since having 22 vs. VMI on Dec. 28, 1999. Florida had matched its prior season high (13) at halftime, and eight players finished the game with multiple steals.
* The 28 forced turnovers marked the Gators’ most since recording 29 vs. Florida A&M on Dec. 20, 2002.
* Colin Castleton tallied a career-high 26 points, marking his first 20-point game of the season and fifth of his career.
Head Coach Mike White
On the turnaround from the Texas Southern loss…
“Really a lot of in-house stuff. We all spoke. We all have team meetings in this sport throughout the season. It was important to have one yesterday. It was pretty lengthy. Our guys did a good job of, especially our veterans, taking ownership, speaking up and being honest. I thought we handled today with a lot of maturity. I just feel like, looking back on it, we never fully recovered from that road loss at OU until yesterday afternoon. It took us too long. From the tip tonight, we were back in character, played to our identity, played really hard and did a really good job defensively despite missing a bunch of shots.”
On having a veteran group…
“I don’t know how much of a factor the age of our guys is, it probably is, but the character of our guys is as much, if not, a bigger factor. We’ve got a lot of humility. We’ve got guys that are honest and take constructive criticism from one another. Criticism from me is one thing, but as a teammate who constructively citizens another teammate, it holds more weight. We talk a little bit about that in this program. What was probably more important is we simply played a lot harder. How much of that was what was said yesterday? Who knows.”
#12 Colin Castleton, Senior Forward
On taking Monday’s loss personally…
“Yep, I did. I took it personally on my shoulders. Everybody talks about, ‘I’ve got to do a better job leading and just giving it my all.’ I took it personal and put in work.”
On who motivates the team – players or the coaches…
“Both. We listen to Coach White, he told us what we need to get better at. He was obviously very upset. We were upset with ourselves, but it’s definitely a little bit of both. You have to take accountability for what you do and how we play out there. Like I said after the loss, the coaches put us in the position to win a game, but we just didn’t execute it or play the way we were supposed to. We knew we had to get it done tonight and it’s just what we have to do every night to win games.”
On the bench’s performance…
“It’s definitely humbling. Being able to see that it’s rubbing off on everybody. We come in every day, do what we’re supposed to, even guys who may not be getting as much minutes as possible, but they come in and they play as hard as they can. That’s all you ask for – guys to come in late in the game and go. Just keeping that intensity up and not letting it drop off. Earlier in the year, there were a couple games where it dropped off at the end of the game. Seeing that is definitely really good and they’ve just got to keep working, keep coming in the gym every day and having the same approach.”
On Jason Jitoboh’s putback dunk…
“Man, he got up. That was cool to see for sure. He brings it every day, he has a good approach, good mindset. It was awesome to see all the guys get in and show what they’re capable of. They put as much work in as anybody else and like Myreon said, everybody’s got to be ready. You never know what’s going to happen down the road in the season. Definitely have just got to be ready. I think [Jason] threw it on his own teammate, too! He threw it on [Duruji’s] head. It was cool to see.”
#0 Myreon Jones, Senior Guard
On the team’s energy…
“We just had to find our identity back, you know. That’s what we focused on the most, finding our identity and getting back to who we are. Just starting the game off with an identity, that’s what got us this win.”
On doing better as the leaders…
“Yesterday, we talked about identity. The young dudes were the first ones to bring it up too. That just opens our minds and our eyes… The young guys see what’s going on, so as the older guys, we’ve got to be leaders.”
