Gators at a Glance
* Florida visits Mississippi State for the teams’ lone regular season meeting. The Gators have won three of their last four entering Saturday’s contest and are ranked 13th in defensive efficiency nationally (KenPom).
* Todd Golden is 3-0 against fellow SEC coaches who were hired in the 2022 cycle.
* UF looks to bounce back from a 54-52 loss in Wednesday’s defensive battle at Texas A&M. Colin Castleton posted another strong outing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots, and Myreon Jones added 10 points in his first start of the season.
* Colin Castleton has blocked 58 shots this season — 28 in SEC play — and 174 as a Gator, sitting just two away from climbing into Florida’s career top-five list and into UF’s single-season top 10 for a second time. (His 62 blocks last season are the #9 total in Florida history.)
* After six of Florida’s first seven opponents shot better than 40 percent from the field, the Gators have held nine of their last 11 foes under that threshold.
* Florida has held seven of its last eight opponents to 66 or fewer points as the Gators have climbed to 13th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings.
* Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind two strong performances in the wins at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri last week. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks with a career night at the free throw line (12-for-15). He followed up with an all-around performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, a career-high six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
* Colin Castleton leads UF in scoring (14.9), rebounding (8.1), blocked shots (58), free throws made (74) and steals (19) and co-leads with Kyle Lofton in assists (48). Will Richard paces the squad with 26 made 3-pointers and a .406 3-point percentage.
* As a team, the Gators’ 6.0 blocked shots per game are tied for fifth in the NCAA. Individually, Castleton’s 3.22 blocked shots per game ranks third the nation.
* The Florida defense and Colin Castleton’s 18-point, five-block performance powered the Gators’ win at LSU, which snapped the Tigers’ 13-game home winning streak. As UF made its second-half run, the Gators got timely 3-pointers from Myreon Jones and Riley Kugel, each of whom assisted on the other’s big basket.
* The Gators had five players in double figures in their win vs. UGA, led by Kyle Lofton’s season-high 18. Colin Castleton posted 12 points, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists, while Will Richard added 14 points and nine rebounds. Myreon Jones (season-high 13 points) and Kowacie Reeves (12) both added a scoring spark off the bench, as UF enjoyed a 35-17 bench scoring edge.
* Alex Fudge had a four-game stretch from Nov. 30-Dec. 14 when averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds, shooting 18-for-32 (.563) from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and hitting 14 of 15 free throw attempts (.933). Fudge had a pair of double-doubles over that span, with 16/10 vs. FAMU and 13/10 vs. Ohio.
* Through Will Richard’s first seven appearances of the season, he displayed impressive efficiency scoring 13+ points six times while shooting .607 from the field, .586 from 3-point range and .947 from the free throw line.
* Riley Kugel made his first career start vs. Florida A&M, marking six straight seasons and 15 of the last 16 in which a freshman started at least one game for UF (every season since 2007-08 except 2016-17).
* UF’s 19-point rally at Florida State marked the fourth-largest in team history and the largest on the road since a 22-point comeback at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993. Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half.
* Castleton became the first Gator with a 30-point double-double since Joakim Noah (37/11 vs. Georgia, 3/1/06) and the only SEC player since the 1996-97 season with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in a game, a stat line he accomplished vs. FAU.
