Following arguably one of the worst losses in Florida basketball history on Monday against Texas Southern the Gators came out with intensity on Wednesday night dispatching the North Florida Ospreys 85-55. Picking up pressure full court and rapidly doubling in the half court you could tell the Gators were angry after their performance on Monday and they took out all their frustrations on the Ospreys. From the first TV timeout the Gators had the lead and they never relinquished it, coming away with what was ultimately a comfortable victory.
Thievery
Searching for interceptions and deflections for 40 minutes the Gators were relentless every time North Florida had the ball and they finished the game with 21 steals. Nine different Gators put up a steal or more and there were times you almost felt bad for the visiting Ospreys who struggled to get the ball over the half court line at times. Leading the way was Tyree Appleby who has been known for his ability to hound ball handlers and poke the ball away and he did that on four separate occasions which led to run out opportunities over and over again for Florida. This is a team that prides themselves on their defense and they showed max effort on that side of the floor.
Filling It Up
North Florida is undersized on the frontcourt and their 6’8”, 195 center options were overmatched all night by Colin Castleton who had a career high 26 points while also adding in 8 rebounds. The size mismatch was apparent early and the Gators went back to it again and again resulting in deep post ups for Castleton and either easy hook shots or him getting hacked and sent to the foul line. Florida’s offense is still searching for some rhythm and Castleton posting up repeatedly may not be a viable strategy against the behemoths of the SEC, but it was nice to have an offensive option to keep going to on Wednesday that kept getting points.
Still Searching
The Gators were able to put up 80 points but that number isn’t totally indicative of how the offense played. Because of the 21 steals by Florida they were able to get all kinds of easy points in transition and 33 of their points were in these possessions following steals. It’s obviously great that Florida was able to generate these high quality looks by getting steals, but it artificially propped up their offense that actually struggled to get going in the half court. Unfortunately that’s a problem the Gators have had in this early season, and one that really stung them in losses against Oklahoma and Texas Southern, and it’s something they’ll have to continue to try to improve on.
Final Thoughts
It’s always a bit difficult to have meaningful takeaways in a game against a low major opponent but there was a bit of good and a bit of bad with this one. The good was that Florida played with incredible energy and intensity, which, coming off a game where they didn’t have that was a welcomed sight. It manifested with some inspired defense and that really fired up the Gators. The bad was that their half court offense still isn’t generating much, and when they play a team that doesn’t turn the ball over as much the Gators will need to find a way to generate something within their offensive scheme. They’ll be tested on Monday when they take on Maryland.