Notable
* Colin Castleton posted 29 points and 10 rebounds. It matched his career high scoring output in SEC play (2/22/22 vs. Arkansas), and marked his third consecutive 20-point outing.
* It was Castleton’s 18th career double-double, fifth of this season, and his fifth career 20/10 double-double.
* With two blocked shots, Castleton tied Al Horford (189) for #3 on Florida’s career blocked shots list just one game after moving past Joakim Noah (186).
* With 16 second-half points, Castleton has averaged 18.0 points in the second half over the last three games.
* Castleton is averaging 21.0 points over the last five games.
* Riley Kugel added a career-high 15 points, his sixth double-figure scoring performance this season, while Will Richard scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
Head Coach Todd Golden
On Alabama going 9-for-17 from 3 in the first half…
“We thought this was going to be a challenging game for us. Fourth game in a four-game stretch that, we played three teams within that stretch that were ranked top-five in the country, and the other game was at Rupp Arena. So a really challenging time for us, a lot of fatigue both physically and mentally. We thought after beating Tennessee last week and then having an emotional, close loss last Saturday, this was going to be a challenging game for us, and we just didn’t play well enough. I thought Alabama looked fresh. Obviously, they respect us in the way they approached the game, and they played a really good game. They played a really good game. We couldn’t take away the three in the first half, and it allowed them to separate. They’re ranked top-five for a reason. They’re a really good club. Coach Oats has done a really good job. You can see where they are in year [four] for him here that they’ve built a really good program.”
On Colin Castleton’s performance…
“Listen, he’s a guy that’s improved drastically over the course of this year, which is impressive considering he was an all-league player last year. But I think he’s become a much more complete player. He’s become a better leader. He plays 38 minutes a game for us and doesn’t take any possessions off. He’s a guy that’s obviously is carrying a big load for us this year but he has to, and I just appreciate the way he’s approached everything and the way he’s continued to lead in tough circumstances like tonight. He did a good job playing 40 for us, and he’s a guy that…I hope we can give the type of success he deserves on the way out.”
On whether the defense is a concern after the last 60 minutes…
“No. This was a tough stretch, man. I thought we played pretty well to be in a one-possession game at Rupp and just got hit with a buzz-saw tonight. Not going to cry over spilled milk. I feel like you don’t want to ever just – not that the game doesn’t matter, but we’re going to flush this. There’s not a lot to take away from this. It’s more of a mental and physical recovery and make sure we’re ready to go for a Vanderbilt team that got a big win tonight and [do] all we can to get ready for that.”
Grad F Colin Castleton
On the game…
“I wouldn’t say we stopped competing. We did a good job in some parts competing, there were a lot of parts we were soft there, not in a softness of rebounding or being physical, softness in just guarding your man and taking it personal. If your guy has the ball and is sizing you up, you just can’t get blown by. As a team, everybody collectively has to come together and help each other out. Alabama is a great team. They’re coached great, Coach (Nate) Oats and his offense is hard to guard, but you have to be able to come together and guard your man one on one because they have a lot of guards that have a variety of moves and if I help up, they’ll lob it and if I don’t they’ll get a layup. They put you in a lot of spots where it’s tough to guard, but we just have to be tougher in that aspect of guarding one on one and take the personal battle.”
On Alabama’s fast start…
“They make the tough shots. There were a couple shots that were contested and we were there and played good defense, but they have guys who made tough shots. After that, we got down a little bit as a team, as a unit, and let guys blow by each other one on one and get to the basket. Obviously, Brandon Miller is one of the best players in the country, but other than that they have smaller guards that aren’t as tall and strong, so I feel if we stand in front and make it tough on the guys that they’ll hesitate. We have to figure out how to guard one on one, that was the biggest thing tonight. They didn’t run a lot of sets in my opinion. We scouted a lot of sets, and they really weren’t running a lot of sets. I remember them running maybe four plays over and over again. They were just able to get to the basket.”
