Following Monday’s eyesore of a performance in their upset loss to Texas Southern, the No. 20 Gators didn’t just need a win over North Florida on Wednesday night. They needed to win convincingly, play hard for all 40 minutes, regain some confidence and return to their early-season defensive form.
They did every single one of those things, as Florida defeated North Florida, 85-55.
“We all have team meetings in this sport throughout the season,” UF coach Mike White said. “It was important to have one [on Tuesday]. It was pretty lengthy. I thought our guys did a good job of, especially our veterans, taking ownership, speaking up and being honest. I thought we handled today with a lot of maturity.
“I just feel like, looking back on it a little bit, I don’t know that we fully recovered from that road loss at OU until yesterday afternoon. It took us too long. From the tip tonight, really proud of the effort. We were back in character, and we played to our identity, played really hard and did a really good job defensively despite missing a bunch of shots.
“We’ve got a lot of humility. We’ve got guys that are honest and take constructive criticism from one another. Criticism from me is one thing, but as a teammate who constructively criticizes another teammate, it holds more weight. I’ve always thought that we try to promote that in this program.”
The story of the game was UF’s intense and unwavering defensive pressure. They forced 28 turnovers (their most in a game since December 2002) that led to 33 points at the other end. And it’s not like the Ospreys kept throwing the ball out of bounds or traveling, either, as 21 of those turnovers were steals, which tied for the fifth-most in a game in school history and the most under White. Nine of the 13 Gators who played recorded a steal, and eight of them had multiple steals.
When the Ospreys (2-9) did get a shot off, it was often with a hand in their face, and they made just 34 percent of their field-goal attempts, including just 23.8 percent from deep (5-for-21).
“We just had to find our identity back,” guard Myreon Jones said. “That’s what we focused on the most, finding our identity and getting back to who we are. Just starting the game off with our identity, that’s what got us the win.”
On the other end of the court, the Gators struggled with their perimeter shooting for the third game in a row, going just 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) from beyond the arc. However, they made up for that with superb ball movement and solid execution that led to nine made layups and 10 dunks. They outscored the Ospreys by 22 points in the paint.
Florida (7-2) also did a good job of getting back to their offensive identity, which is playing through preseason all-SEC center Colin Castleton. When their offense has been operating at its best this season, Castleton has usually been heavily involved, whether it’s scoring or drawing double teams and finding open cutters and shooters. He didn’t seem to get that many touches against Texas Southern, and, when he did, he frequently didn’t have many good options.
That changed in a big way against North Florida. He scored a career-high 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, dished two assists, blocked a shot and came away with a couple of steals. It was the fifth 20-point game of his career and his first of the season.
“Colin was really good,” White said. “He was aggressive. He imposed his will on the interior, but it started with the way he approached his defensive effort. His ball-screen coverage was as sharp as it’s been all year. His level of communication was at an all-time high, and he pursued balls with two hands. He played really hard, and it’s no coincidence at times the game just rewards you. It just does.”
Castleton said he took it upon himself to lead by example with his intensity after the lackluster team effort two days prior.
“I took it personally on my shoulders,” he said. “Everybody talks about, ‘I’ve got to do a better job leading and just giving it my all.’ I took it personal and put in work.”
Jones contributed 14 points, four rebounds and two steals, while Tyree Appleby had 13 points and a team-high four steals. Reserve forward Tuongthach Gatkek only played six minutes but made the most of them, hauling down six rebounds.
More than the score or the stats, though, White was pleased with the effort, togetherness and toughness his team played with. They didn’t play very hard against Texas Southern, and they let a cold night of shooting negatively affect their defense, rebounding and willingness to fight for loose balls.
“Every team has a different culture,” White said. “Culture is action. We had poor culture the other night, and we were out of character. But, the veterans on this team have created a culture where we play hard. This team plays hard, and we get on the floor, and we’re getting more full efforts defensively relative to coming at you, when we play in character, obviously.”
They were definitely in character against North Florida. Despite only shooting 40.6 percent in the first half and never finding their three-point stroke, they kept the intensity up for the entire game, including the last seven minutes or so when White emptied the bench. They communicated well, got their hands in passing lanes, contested nearly every shot and won the race to nearly every 50-50 ball.
They did all of the things that they didn’t do on Monday, and, eventually, their offense found them. They shot 48.5 percent in the second half.
White hopes that his team learned its lesson from the humbling loss to Texas Southern and that they’ll play with the energy and tenacity that they showed on Wednesday night on a consistent basis for the rest of the season.
“We’ve got some individuals that really take pride in it,” White said. “We’ve got a number of them, and that’s why I think this group in particular has really rallied around that type of identity, and it’s really nice to see it. It’s fun. I respect the heck out of our guys diving out on the floor when we miss pretty good look after pretty good look. That’s a positive sign. We’ve got to have that every night.”