Despite Colin Castleton’s 22-point efficiency and an 11-point first-half lead, the Gators fell to the Oklahoma Sooners (9-3) on Tuesday night time within the Jumpman Invitational matchup.
They fall to 7-5 on the yr.
The Gators began the competition sizzling on each ends of the court docket on the backs of Colin Castleton and Trey Bonham.
It began early when Castleton drew a foul on a lob try on the primary possession of the competition from Kyle Lofton. After splitting the free throws on his journey to the charity stripe, Castleton bought again on protection and was on the underside finish of a ball display screen on the prime of the important thing from his man Tanner Groves.
The guard handed the ball to Groves, forcing Castleton to step up and play the gifted scorer past the three-point arc.
However, because the give-and-go occurred and Groves seemed to make a transfer, Bonham pickpocketed the Sooners’ large man and took the ball again in the wrong way. He completed on the rim to give Florida a 3-0 lead and kickstarted the duo’s manufacturing as they evenly mixed for 20 factors on the half and aided a unit capturing at only a 33% clip to the halftime lead.
It additionally set the tone for the early depth and power the Gators performed with on every finish of the court docket, attacking the board, enjoying lively protection and getting out in transition for straightforward rim twos on the other finish.
The fast-paced model of play showcased the tempo Golden was anticipated to carry to Gainesville as they constructed an 11-point first-half lead.
But, it did not final.
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With the momentum swinging within the Sooners’ favor nearing the tip of the primary half, as they minimize Florida’s double-digit lead to two heading into the locker room, the Gators seemed to reply with the same efficiency as the primary 16 minutes.
That wasn’t the case.
Instead, the 2 groups traded blows for almost all of the second half. Porter Moser’s squad retook its first lead because the 6-5 mark with 16:13 remaining after a Jacob Groves nook three discovered the underside of the online. Lofton shortly answered with a layup on the other finish to tie it again up.
From there, the offensive manufacturing slowed, with every having to earn powerful buckets the remainder of the way in which. Florida scored simply 22 factors within the second half consequently.
The battle of the bigs, which was anticipated to be a deciding issue within the contest, was gained by Castleton, scoring 22 factors and holding Groves to 13.
Unfortunately for Florida, the distinction rested of their incapability to shoot the ball from distance, pulling down simply 9.5% of their shot makes an attempt from downtown. Oklahoma, then again, linked on seven, with 4 coming from main scorer Grant Sherfield.
He led the unit with 20 factors on the night, together with an enormous end on the rim off the dribble on Castleton with simply over two minutes remaining. That gave the Sooners the flexibility to fend off UF down the stretch.
The Gators fall to 1-3 in opposition to energy six opponents this season. They will head to The Plains to tackle the Auburn Tigers to start league play on Dec. 28.
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