What started as an exciting weekend with all kinds of possibilities for the Gators to pick up quality wins and put the college basketball world on notice quickly turned sour with a loss to Xavier and then ended on an even worse note on Sunday as they got blasted by the West Virginia Mountaineers by a score of 84-55. This was an all-out beatdown by the Mountaineers who came out with the first punch and never looked back, out-executing the Gators on both sides of the floor. West Virginia’s lead grew to 16 in the first half before the Gators clawed back to cut the deficit to 8 at the break, but the Mountaineers blitzed them early in the second and ultimately won the second frame 43-22. Leading the way for the Mountaineers was Texas transfer Tre Mitchell who finished the game with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Defensive Struggles
Florida has not been good on their side of the floor this season and it was their biggest issue on Sunday as they allowed West Virginia to get just about everything they wanted offensively. Their flex screen offense that is designed to get post players deep post catches worked repeatedly without any adjustments from the Gators and it put Florida’s bigs in disadvantaged positions leading to a first half that saw Colin Casleton pick up three fouls and Jason Jitoboh pick up four. Away from the ball the Gators lost track of shooters and allowed wide open catch and shoot attempts leading to some big three-point shots from the Mountaineers that repeatedly sucked any momentum the Gators had out of the building. Florida’s defensive issues are apparent, and hopefully this weekend illuminates what needs to improve.
Not Himself
Colin Castleton started the season on an absolute tear putting himself on early watch lists for player of the year in college basketball but this weekend was rather pedestrian for him with 11 points against Xavier, 12 points against Oregon State, and now only 3 points against West Virginia. Of course, his low total on Sunday was slightly related to the fact that he was sent to the bench with foul trouble and by the time he would have gotten back in the game was out of hand so coach Todd Golden just kept him on the bench. Castleton struggled against the length and physicality of the West Virginia frontcourt, and the Gators weren’t able to get him the kind of deep post touches that would make his job easier. Florida shot only 35% from the field against the Mountaineers and couldn’t get much going offensively and it’s clear what was working for them against some of the mid-major opponents to start the season might not be as effective when playing quality opponents.
Florida’s Bright Spot
After not playing his best basketball in the first two games of the PK85 point guard Kyle Lofton was able to turn things around against West Virginia finishing with 17 points and 4 assists. While there wasn’t a lot working for Florida’s offense, one thing that was effective was Kyle Lofton pick and rolls that were well designed to give him a double gap to drive into where he could convert at the rim and draw fouls. There were some tough moments for him offensively in the first half where he tried, and failed, to create one on one, but the success he had in the second half should show Florida how he needs to be used. He will never be an excellent one on one player but he has high IQ and is excellent coming off screens, something Florida can work with.
Final Thoughts
It’s too early to make any sweeping judgments of this Florida basketball team on the whole but right now the Gators have played three good basketball teams this season–Florida Atlantic, Xavier, and West Virginia–and have lost to all three of them. They are still looking for an identity on both sides of the floor, and unfortunately the PK85 didn’t appear to be something that moved things ahead positively. However, this team has a bunch of veteran players that will hopefully be able to turn tough losses into learning experiences that will help the team down the line. The Gators have a much easier contest next at home against Florida A&M where they will hopefully start to make things right.
Hi Eric, thanks for the writeup. Nice job picking out the positive of Lofton’s play. I was so disgusted I didn’t even notice. Two Qs for you: 1) was there no presser after the game, and 2) do you have any word on what’s up with Kawacie? I am worried he decided to transfer after being benched the first game and not seeing many minutes the second game. As always, thank you so much!