Box Score<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_documents_2021_11_9_1977168.PDF&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=R1jDGr59Hzv7-V6BSF6idZKf3Fx_40Xft4cH1N4IkcJJN0qO6vH2c05vEBOhAKjQ&s=o-xrFhca5IqAsQqC-GPr7rReJMFPTwwy62os3aQc94c&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=R1jDGr59Hzv7-V6BSF6idZKf3Fx_40Xft4cH1N4IkcJJN0qO6vH2c05vEBOhAKjQ&s=Ul1lZol4DSTx3E6mNSe2tW8cci98un69Mxrxvp7A2zE&e= >
Notable
* The Gators improved to 6-1 in season openers under head coach Mike White. Seven players made their first regular season appearance for Florida, including Myreon Jones who finished with a game-high 20 points (please note: a scoring review after the game showed a basket at 0:56 in the first half had originally been incorrectly attributed to Anthony Duruji rather than Jones).
* Colin Castleton scored 17 of his 18 points in the first half and recorded a Florida opening-night record six blocked shots, topping the previous record of four, held by Reggie Hannah (11/30/78 vs. Ohio), Joakim Noah and Al Horford (both 11/10/06 vs. Samford).
* It marked Castleton’s fourth career game with 6+ blocked shots.
* Castleton also matched his career high with four assists.
Head Coach Mike White
On what he liked about the team in the season opener and what he didn’t…
“Just overall, how we played for 20 minutes, but what I didn’t like is we didn’t play for 40. I thought we let our foot off the gas pedal and didn’t play with a lot of maturity down the stretch. We did play a lot of young guys late, but that’s not an excuse for the older guys playing, not finishing defensively. Then, our shot selection just got a little bit out of character for this group to this point. I did like the ball movement in the second half on some of those possessions which led to really good shots, which we didn’t convert of course. We made a couple of ill-advised decisions in transition offense as the place was getting loud – and we have to learn to play at home in front of a great environment. The Rowdies were great. It was fun at times. I think that overall this team showed what it could potentially be at times and it also showed what can happen at this level when you’re not playing the right way against a solid mid-major program coached by Mike Schrage. He’s a good friend and they did a great job. Hats off to those guys down the stretch.”
On Colin Castleton and the defensive rotations…
“I thought Colin affected some shots for sure. It took him a couple of possessions to get his energy going at the top of the key in terms of pressuring the basketball. I thought overall, he was really solid defensively. I thought he forced it a couple of times, offensively, trying to dribble through traffic. He kind of had his mind made up on going to make a play. We want him to be really aggressive, but we want him to make really solid decisions while being aggressive. The same thing goes for Tyree Appleby, who is coming off a game where he made high-level decisions. I just thought overall, at times, we kind of had our minds made up to go and make a play as opposed to taking what the defense gave us. Defensive rotations outside of Colin, at times, were really good, especially in the first half. In fact, we even hit a couple of them where we were flying around with ball calls and rotating. The second half was not as sharp, but some of that was because of the combinations out there on the court with some inexperience. I also thought we didn’t quite maintain that edge we had in the first 20. Overhelped sometimes on a couple of threes – that much help wasn’t needed.”
On backup center position…
“First of all, with Tuon Gatkek – he plays as hard as anyone on our team. He has to fill out and he has to gain weight. He has a lot to learn at this level. He has three or four years to play, so he has time. I like his talent and I love his motor. He’s extremely tough for a big, thin guy. He did some good things, and then he did some freshman-type things as well. Jason did some good things. In
addition, he’s worked really hard to get in great condition. Had a couple decisions that I wish we could get back, which led to fouls. The last one, you know, just jumping on a wall up. He’s big and strong enough to where he can just show his body, just a little too much. And then we have an ability at time to play some small ball, of course – which should make us more difficult to defend, with Duruji or CJ at the five, or whoever you would consider the five in that lineup. Defensively, it allows us to play a little bit differently as well in terms of extending a little bit quicker and a little bit faster, but obviously smaller.”
#12 Colin Castleton, Senior Forward
On a weak second half…
“I feel like we just let up in all aspects. First half, we brought a lot of energy, played a lot harder, and just came out with more of a will to win. Then, in the second half we kind of just let up in all areas and that’s just on us. We got to work on that. We just talked about that in the locker room, so we just have to just fix that.”
On setting the tone defensively…
“Big, I think every night is big. Every game, you have to play defense hard. You have to have a little bit more of an urgency. Like I said, in the first half we had a really good urgency. We came out playing hard on every level, and then we just let up. It was really disappointing. We just have to come back in practice and just practice hard and get ready for Sunday because that’s going to be a really big test for us.”
#0 Myreon Jones, Senior Guard
On his three-pointers tonight…
“I just let it come to me. First half, I didn’t really make one, but my teammates at halftime were saying, ‘Just keep being aggressive. We know it’s going to fall, we know how good you are as a shooter, so just keep going.’ I just let it come to me. I did it through the offense we were running. I didn’t try to force it. I got good looks out of it.”
On the sloppy second half…
“We’re an older team, so guys on this team should know better that we have to play two halves and we can’t just play one. Being sloppy and just taking crazy shots is not us. We haven’t shown that yet and we have to fix it. I have confidence in this team that we’ll fix it and get better for the next game.”
