Colonial Life Arena| Columbia, S.C.
Box Score<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2022_1_15_2022-5F01-5F15-5FUF-5Fat-5FSC.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=rChLdD7oPVtPdfGCxrX2kQzohOtGjclYzbUQ9DTPjvKDXud3HPjfkZTo1csHQQ7c&s=vRd-tFa8qhFqAxkz-nhDVIkuKlMWfHX2EgEXYLZhl_U&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=rChLdD7oPVtPdfGCxrX2kQzohOtGjclYzbUQ9DTPjvKDXud3HPjfkZTo1csHQQ7c&s=5zxxllACFdf0OZw9-iSc2D5RSkd1EdsEDSNazwHQoVo&e= >
Records: Florida 10-6 (1-3 SEC); South Carolina 10-6 (1-3 SEC)
Next up for Florida: Home vs. Mississippi State, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network
Notable
* Florida picked up the road victory while shooting a season-best .551 from the field, including a .619 clip in the second half.
* It marked Florida’s third straight win in Columbia and the sixth straight game in the series won by the visitor.
* Florida scored nine straight points within a one-minute span of action to open up a double-digit first-half lead, 21-10.
* Kowacie Reeves exploded for a career-high 14 points after making his second straight start. He started fast with five of the Gators’ first eight points.
* The freshman duo of Reeves and Elijah Kennedy combined for 19, the third time the pair combined for double-digit scoring this season (14 vs. Troy, 13 vs. Stony Brook).
* Colin Castleton matched his career high with eight blocked shots and added 10 points. It marked his seventh career game with 5+ blocks.
* Florida held South Carolina’s top three scorers (Stevenson, Reese, Cousinard) to a scoreless first half and a 1-for-10 start from 3-point range.
Head Coach Mike White
On the 17 assists in the game…
“I thought we moved it well. We had some really good passes to one another, but we also had some ill-advised passes. We had a couple of jump passes that resulted in transition defense. Didn’t do a good enough job of flattening the defense later in the clock, getting Castleton some touches, and that’s partly on what we’re calling, but overall, especially in the first 20-30 minutes, I thought we played with a lot of confidence and moved it pretty well. We shot it with more confidence and thought about the result a little bit less – which is how you have to play. You have to believe in yourself… Step up, jump up and knock your shot in. Kowacie did a good job of that as well as a couple of other guys. Colin, despite the lack of touches, I thought was just terrific defensively.”
On Kowacie Reeve’s defense…
“I think every freshman in the country has to go through a learning curve of defensive schemes, intensity, rebounding prowess, physicality, and offensively, understanding what we’re trying to run, what’s a great shot, and how to execute. He’s become a better ball handler and passer. He’s learned how to really play within himself. This is a guy who, like most high school kids a year ago today, he was in a high school game trying to get 25 shots up. It was really hard to guard him at that level. I am really proud of him. He’s had an unbelievable attitude and nothing has been handed to him. He’s just earned it and he was really good today. He has a way to go and he’ll be the first to tell you that. He’s just gotten better at staying in front of the ball, loading to the ball, scouting report stuff, and he’s going to be a good player.”
On how the guys played for all 40 minutes…
“In the locker room, we enjoyed the win. Road wins are really hard to come by, period. In this league, especially. South Carolina is going to win a bunch of games… They already have and they’re going to continue to win. They are going to be really hard to beat here. With that being said, I thought we got really casual late. But, the amount of stuff the guys have been through as of late, I think it was a big sigh of relief. We’re in position here. We have to finish a little bit better. But, defensively for the most part, we didn’t make a lot of mistakes. I thought they earned some tough twos and even some tough threes late. Fortunately, a few that we made, Colin Castleton cleaned up for us.”
#14 Kowacie Reeves, Freshman Guard
On how the game felt for him…
“It really felt good to get a team win. We’re trying to just get back to ourselves and how we were at the beginning of the season. It felt really good.”
On if there was anything different from the team leading up to this game…
“Yeah, just creating that order we had during those first games when we were 6-0… Just all competing together, and no one cared about shots or offense. We just put more pressure on ourselves defensively and challenged ourselves as a team to get our edge back – Get that same type of physicality and competitiveness all together throughout the game.”
On what it felt like to be contributing to the team, especially after his second start…
“It feels good. I’m at a loss for words, honestly, because a lot of the guys on the team predicted and told me something similar to this was going to happen. Both Rooj (Anthony Duruji) and Colin (Castleton) were telling me how they were preparing their freshman years and how things were just up-and-down and bumpy for them at first. They just encouraged me to keep pushing on, keep working, paying attention to every little detail and just being engaged on defense – that was going to keep me on the floor. So, once I did those things, it was starting to come together. I just have to continue to do those things and feed off those guys.”
On what Coach White has been telling him to do to keep earning these starts…
“To keep playing defense. That is what everyone has been telling me and that is what I’ve been focused on. Just making sure we’re getting stops, collectively when I’m in the game, and just making sure I rebound and hit all the defensive stuff. Once that happens and you’re out on the floor, opportunities are going to come to make shots.”
