Florida in its first in-state competition of the season against Florida Atlantic lost Monday night 76-74 after a close comeback push by the Gators came up short at the end. FAU led most of the game with the help of the Owls bench scoring 34 points, including 20 points by senior guard Michael Forrest. UF on the other hand struggled, shooting 38% from the field throughout the game and finding no help from the bench that provided only five points to the Gators offense.
Despite the loss, Gators fifth year forward Colin Castleton produced as the Deland, Florida, native led UF with 30 points, five blocks and joined former Gators Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Hudson as the only transfers to reach 800 points at UF tonight. Even with another 30-point performance, Castleton wasn’t pleased with the result.
“To be honest, I really don’t care,” Castleton said. “I don’t care how many points I have or shots I get. I just want to win.”
The Gators started the game with a basket by graduate student Kyle Lofton via a quick first step inside the lane for two, however, the tight man pressure from the Owls kept the Gators offense from scoring in runs. This resulted in a scoring drought that lasted over five minutes for UF, while FAU took advantage with an 8-0 scoring run.
Through 10 minutes of play, Florida Atlantic led 14-12 while the Gators continued to perform poorly on the offensive side of the ball to start, shooting below 30% from the field midway in the first half.
Despite the lack of offensive production from Florida, FAU began to slow down, underperforming late in the first half in the shot market, keeping the game close as the Gators continued to trail behind the Owls until a 6-0 scoring run that was capped off by sophomore forward Alex Fudge with a last second layup tied it 35 a piece to end the first half.
It looked as if Florida couldn’t get a shot inside the basket throughout the first half. Multiple close attempts at the basket almost went in but tiptoed out of the rim. The Gators were shooting 31% from the field, only eight baskets inside the perimeter made it in the rim through 20 minutes of play for UF.
The Owls’ production behind the line pushed them ahead of Florida late in the first half. Florida Atlantic shot 61.5% behind the arc as a team compared to UF’s shooting 37.5% in the same category going into halftime.
Looking to shape up in the second half, the Gators started on fire making four of their first four shots in the second half. After a move inside by Castleton to extend a 6-0 scoring run through the first few minutes of the second half, Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May called timeout as Florida led 48-39, looking alive and pushing the ball down the court in transition quickly off missed FAU shots on a night that saw only eight fastbreak points due to the lack of awareness in transition.
Coming back from the break, the Owls began to rally back to make a scoring run of their own after a three-minute drought. A layup under the basket with finesse by Owls junior guard Jalen Gaffney closed the gap to a 52-51 Florida lead with 11:10 remaining in the game.
Off-ball assignments left alone by the Gators gave Florida Atlantic the opportunity to catch the lead back in the game with two wide open threes in the corners by sophomore guard Alijah Martin and junior guard Brandon Wetherspoon to take a 60-55 lead over UF with around eight minutes remaining in the game.
Florida Atlantic finished the game shooting 54% behind the perimeter.
“Them going 13-for-24 from three was the difference in the game,” head coach Todd Golden said after the game on FAU’s performance behind the arc. “We just got bombed out.”
The threes would avalanche into a 19-4 scoring run over five minutes for the Owls, running away with a 71-59 lead against Florida. Head coach Todd Golden called a timeout to try to find an answer with under five minutes to work with.
That answer would come in eight straight points by sophomore guard Kowacie Reeves, who finished with 11 points, in the clutch hitting nothing but net on two corner threes and a shot near the free throw line for a long two to make it a four-point deficit for the Gators. Florida Atlantic leading at 71-67 with two and a half minutes remaining.
The game became tense down the stretch. With 44 seconds remaining, UF was down 74-71 against the Owls after Forrest called timeout even though FAU had none left, resulting in a technical foul that followed with two free throws being converted into the basket by sophomore guard Will Richard.
Despite a late three by Richard, who finished with 14 points, the Owls were able to defend their lead to win it in a close one 76-74.
The Gators will now get ready to travel to Tallahassee for the first road game of the season against the Florida State Seminoles Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the ACC Network.