It looks like the Gators are starting to get their swagger back. After opening SEC play with losses in three games that were within their reach in the second half, they’ve now won back-to-back games.
Yes, South Carolina is one of the worst teams in the conference and Mississippi State looks like a bubble team. But it’s not so much the fact that they won as much as it is how they won that is an encouraging sign.
In the South Carolina win, they fended off numerous second-half comeback attempts by the Gamecocks on the road. Most recently, they battled back from down seven points with seven minutes left to beat the Bulldogs without their best player available.
They had numerous opportunities to fold in those games, but they didn’t. They’ve made the crucial winning plays down the stretch two times in a row after failing to do so in their previous three games.
The Gators will look to continue that trend on Saturday when they host Vanderbilt at 1.
“I think it’s real good for us,” freshman guard Kowacie Reeves said. “I think we’re slowly but surely getting back to our same physicality, edge and competitiveness altogether, like we were in the beginning of the season. And also, I think it’s just good for us, like, off the court as well. People worry less about all the other outside stuff. We’re just focused on winning, staying together and trying to come out with wins night in and night out.”
They very well might have to do it without center Colin Castleton again. He didn’t play against Mississippi State due to a left shoulder injury that he suffered in practice. He didn’t practice on Friday, and his status moving forward is murky.
“We’re waiting to get some more feedback from our people, our medical doctors,” coach Mike White said.
“I guess when you hear he’s out and we just don’t have any answers yet and you’re not giving a timeline, I guess [the possibly of him missing the rest of the season is] always going to pop in your head. It’s always a possibility, I guess. I haven’t been told he’s going to be out until tomorrow, or he’s going to be out a week, he’s going to be out two weeks. I haven’t been told any of that. Just know he’s out [Friday].
“I feel for him. It’s been an emotional couple days for him. Again, he was in such a good place, and he is mentally right now, not dealing with his individual injury, of course, but from a leadership standpoint. He was a factor in practice trying to help these guys. He was a big factor in our game the other night.”
Without their leading scorer and rebounder and one of the top shot-blockers in the conference, a couple of players rose to the occasion against Mississippi State. Jason Jitoboh scored eight points and swatted a couple of shots. Anthony Duruji exploded for a UF career-high 22 points and five steals. Seldom-used forward Tuonthach Gatkek threw down a dunk, blocked a shot and captured two steals in 16 minutes.
“We just went into that game knowing it was an unfortunate circumstance of Colin being out, but everybody just had to be ready.” Reeves said. “I think everybody was mentally, physically ready for that game. No one was out of it; everybody was locked in on the scouting report and what we needed to do to win, the keys for winning. So, everybody came in and gave great minutes and contributed to winning.”
Because Jitoboh was in foul trouble for most of the night and the Gators (11-6, 2-3 SEC) don’t have any depth behind him and Castleton, White was forced to play some smaller lineups. There were extended stretches of that game where they had three guards and a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards on the floor against one of the most physical frontcourts in the SEC.
They did a good enough job of overcoming Castleton’s absence to win that game, but White is looking for even more out of his players.
“We had five or six wall-up opportunities where we just didn’t bring it from a backcourt standpoint,” he said. “We had a couple charge opportunities that we didn’t take and things that we talked about [on Friday] and watched individually with some of these guys, especially on a guy like Tolu Smith or Garrison Brooks. You send a double to them, and that double can’t go over there and slap him on the elbow. That’s the easiest way for him to beat the pressure is to draw a foul and a soft foul at that. We’ve got to throw our chests into guys. We’ve got some high-level physicality guys, and then we’ve got some guys that have to grow in that area.
“We got some productive minutes the other night and some experience with Jason and [Gatkek]. Winning experience is even more valuable than experience. Fortunately, we found a way to hopefully have those guys gain a little bit of confidence. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but, hopefully, we can maintain some momentum and continue to grow and get better [on Saturday] and see if we have a chance here.”
As far as their opponent is concerned, Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-3) once again runs everything on both ends of the court through point guard Scotty Pippen Jr., the son of the Chicago Bulls great and Hall of Famer.
He leads the SEC in scoring at 18.8 points per game despite only being a 32 percent shooter from beyond the arc. That’s because he excels at attacking the basket and making tough shots in traffic. He also draws a ton of fouls and has shot an SEC-high 118 free throws. (Castleton is second in the league with 104 free throws, by the way.)
Pippen is also averaging more than three assists per game despite not having many offensively gifted players around him.
At the other end, he ranks ninth in the league with 1.76 steals per game.
“He’s just got an incredible way, instincts, basketball IQ, one step ahead, however you want to term it,” White said. “He’s out there playing a video game. He just seems ahead of the defense a lot in terms of his thinking. Just an incredibly quick thinker and very intelligent basketball player.”
Forward Jordan Wright is also enjoying a solid season. He ranks among the top-20 in the league in both scoring (12.5) and rebounding (5.9).
Forward Quentin Millora-Brown isn’t much of a scoring threat, but he’s tied with Wright for the team lead in rebounding. He ranks fifth in the conference in offensive rebounds (2.59 per game) and sixth in blocked shots (1.29).
Finding a way to keep both Wright and Millora-Brown off of the glass at the same time could prove challenging for the Gators if Castleton is out again.
Myles Stute is their best three-point shooter at 40.5 percent, while reserve guard Rodney Chapman is connecting at a 36.4 percent rate.
“Defending the three is huge with those guys with the amount that they take and make and the actions that they run to get those looks,” White said. “They’re a really good passing team, led by Pippen. Millora-Brown, I think, is really an underrated player and one of the better passing and defensive bigs in our league. Stute and [Trey] Thomas can really shoot it. Pippen is one of the best guards in the country, obviously.”
As a team, the Commodores’ strength is their defense. They’re tied with Florida for fifth in the SEC in scoring defense at 63.9 points per game, and they’re seventh in the league with a 41.3 shooting percentage against them.
Offense has been a struggle for them outside of Pippen. They’re 12th in the conference in scoring (69.6 points), last in field goal percentage (41.1 percent) and 10th from long range (31.3 percent).
The Gators are in a good place right now. After being down in the doldrums for a couple of weeks, they’re starting to play like the confident team that was ranked earlier this season.
Reeves said that the key to keeping this hot streak going is to simply focus on the task at hand and not worry about what might happen down the road.
“Pretty much just the same stuff we’ve been fighting this whole season, just not being too emotional when things don’t go our way, like calls, and doing what we’re supposed to do defensively,” Reeves said. “Not even worrying about offense, just trying to get stops after stops after stops, and then the offensive opportunities will take care of themselves.”