FINAL: Florida 76, Florida State 67

FLORIDA 76, FLORIDA STATE 67

WHAT HAPPENED: Fifth-year senior ahead (*67*)Colin Castleton scored 25 factors and grabbed 9 rebounds, but it surely was the general second-half vitality and energy of your entire Gators crew that turned the tables on the Seminoles Friday night time and turned a 19-point first-half deficit into the primary win at Tallahassee in a decade. Castleton could have fell in need of changing into the primary participant in program historical past to attain a minimum of 30 factors in three straight video games, however he helped ignite the gorgeous comeback — UF was mainly was left for useless within the first half — by hitting 9 of his 14 field-goal makes an attempt and going 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. The two-time All-Southeastern Conference choice scored 19 of his factors after popping out of the locker room, which the Gators went to trailing 43-26 after taking pictures a woeful 27.6 % from the ground and eight.3 from the 3-point line (1-for-12). Guard (*67*)Will Richard joined Castleton within the double-figure scoring column with 13 factors to go along with six rebounds, as did backup guard (*67*)Trey Bonham who offered a spark of the bench on his method to 11 factors, seven rebounds and three assists over 20 reserve minutes. FSU constructed its 19-point lead within the first half behind 48-percent. Florida, which had not gained a highway sport within the sequence since 2012, scored 30 of the primary 35 factors out of the locker room, hitting 13 of its first 21 photographs, but in addition forcing FSU into eight turnovers over the primary eight minutes with out committing any. Just like that, UF turned a 17-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead, 59-48, barely out of the second media timeout. The Seminoles managed to chop the lead 5 with 4:30 to go on a driving layup over Castleton by guard Cameron Mills (21 factors, 5 rebounds), however the Gators took the margin again to 9 and completed from there by going 25-for-31 from the free-throw line (80.6 %).   

WHAT IT MEANS: Apparently, there are two sides to this crew, a minimum of within the early goings of this season — and one facet is far, a lot better than the opposite. What a comeback, although. Make that two straight within the sequence for the Gators, who misplaced seven in a row from 2014-20. Right now, with the Seminoles winless by means of the season’s first 4 video games, the victory could not seem like a lot (or compute to a lot so far as the KenPom.com and NET numbers go), however FSU finally will begin getting its dudes again and figures to be heard from in what might be a extremely aggressive Atlantic Coast Conference. Winning right here for the primary time in 10 years (and in Coach (*67*)Todd Golden‘s first crack on the Seminoles) will make for a very good bus experience again on I-10.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Bonham, the 6-foot junior switch from Virginia Military Institute, struggled to make an influence by means of the season’s first three video games, however he was an element Friday. His taking pictures line wasn’t nice (2-for-8 from the ground, 1-for-5 from deep), however he principally took care of the ball and went six of seven from the free-throw line. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Oh-for-10 to start out the sport from 3 is hard for any crew to get well from, particularly when that crew can also be beginning 5 of 15 from the 2-point space, however a 37-5 run bridging the 2 halves (UF scored the ultimate bucket of the primary) made these ugly first-half offensive numbers a mere reminiscence.  

UP NEXT: It solely will get harder for Florida (2-2) OR (3-1), which may have the weekend off earlier than prepping for the Thanksgiving Week journey to Portland, Ore., and three video games within the Nike Invitational (aka “PK80”). The Gators will fly out Tuesday with their first sport set for Thursday afternoon towards Xavier (3-1), which fell 80-79 at dwelling Friday night time towards Indiana. The Musketeers, now coached by Sean Miller, ended UF’s 2021-22 season final March in  with a second-round NIT blowout at Cincinnati. Depending on how profitable the Gators are in Portland, they may have dates there towards Duke and Gonzaga, like they did within the PK80 5 years in the past. Either method, Friday night time started a run of essentially the most troublesome stretch of the non-league schedule.