GAINESVILLE — The play was paying homage to many earlier than it: Colin Castleton collected a cross only a few toes from his personal basket, drove his shoulder into an opposing defender and powered his option to the bucket for a rating via contact that afforded him a shot at a three-point play.
Before the ball had even completed slipping via the online, Castleton stomped his foot and roared as he flexed his arms by his sides to punctuate the celebration. Meanwhile, a crowd of over 9,000 at Exactech Arena erupted alongside the participant who has meant a lot to it during the last the three years since he joined this system after a two-year stint at Michigan.
It was a important second late in a decent recreation in opposition to No. 20 Missouri however was one in every of many wherein the Florida senior middle made a big influence in what ended up a 73-64 Gator win to enhance to 10-7 on the season and 3-2 in SEC play. It was Florida’s first victory over a ranked opponent this season and grew its win streak to a few, its longest of the 12 months.
The contest supplied a stage for Castleton to turn out to be the fifty fifth total participant and second switch in Florida historical past to eclipse 1,000 points as a Gator. His 16 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks additionally made him the primary SEC participant to succeed in the aforementioned statistics in a league recreation since Arkansas’ Derek Hood in 1999.
“It feels good,” Castleton said of reaching 1,000 points as a Gator.
The near-7-footers’ performance was paramount in Florida’s victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Gators, who have made somewhat of a habit starting games slow this year, surrendered an 11-0 Missouri run to open the contest, a deficit that seemed nearly insurmountable considering the Tiger’s offensive efficacy this season.
But Florida’s heady defensive play combined with a gritty offensive performance from players such as Castleton, freshman wing Riley Kugel, sophomore wing Will Richard and senior guard Myreon Jones, allowed Florida to slowly right the ship and enter halftime play with a 28-point tie on the scoreboard.
Castleton played all but two minutes of the first half and recorded six points on 3-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
Florida head coach Todd Golden said Castleton’s veteran qualities shined through before the intermission as he was quickly charged with two fouls, which easily could have led to extended time on the bench so as not to jeopardize his availability later in the second half of what was trending toward a very close contest.
“I feel like he’s become a lot more of a winning player,” Golden said. “He’s always produced but now he’s finishing possessions. In the first half when he got that offensive foul call, I could sense him getting a little emotional about it but he allowed us to coach him back into the game and he played the remainder of the first half with two fouls without fouling. It was a really big moment for us and a veteran move by him.”
After opening the season on a scoring tear that saw him drop 33, 30 and 25-point outings in succession, Castleton has been forced to find other ways to contribute as he has routinely drawn double teams from competition and has at times struggled to make his mark on the scoreboard as a result.
The big man’s passing has been one of his biggest areas of contribution since as he leads the Gators in total assists on the season and ranks 12th among all SEC players regardless of position in assist rate in conference games.
“He probably is one of the highest assisting centers in the country,” Golden said. “He had six more tonight, he had five in Baton Rouge. When he feels double-teamed, unlike some selfish guys he doesn’t try to blow through it and draw fouls at the rim. He takes a dribble and throws it out to the weak-side for a wide open 3. He’s a really good basketball player. It’s a treat for us as a staff to have someone like that who you can play through and play off of.”
Colin has also been a prolific shot blocker this season.
His 9.9 block percentage ranks 18th among qualified Division I players. In Florida’s win over LSU on Tuesday, Castleton became the first Florida player since Gator great and NBA veteran Joakim Noah to record at least five blocks in back-to-back contests. The game also marked Castleton’s fourth with four or more shot rejections, which marked the longest streak by a Gator since Noah accomplished the feat in seven consecutive matches over a decade ago.
Golden said Saturday that Castleton’s presence on that end of the floor has enabled the team’s elite defensive play. The Gators rank No. 15 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and have
“Our defense is great and obviously Colin being on that back line with two more blocks (against the Tigers on Saturday) and a lot of great rim protection is a big reason why,” Golden said.
While Castleton’s statistical success this season has been impressive, his teammates and coaches said it’s something that doesn’t even show up on scorecard that makes the most impact on the team: his leadership.
Perhaps that’s why the accolades the senior center achieved on Saturday night hardly mattered to him in the immediate aftermath of the contest.
“You know, I’ve been in college for a long time,” Castleton said. “I feel like a grandpa sometimes. It feels good to be able to do that but it doesn’t really matter to me personally. Just being able to win the game is the biggest thing because if we wouldn’t have won I probably wouldn’t have cared at all. The biggest thing for me was winning this game tonight.”