OGT-Florida at Arkansas 2/18/2023 2:00 pm ESPN2

Feb 18 (Sat) 2 PM Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SEC
Florida at Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR

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BROADCAST INFO
ESPN2 | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kevin Fitzgerald
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes

Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD
SiriusXM 388 | SXM App 978
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Engineer/Producer: Steve Egan

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
14-12 | 1st season at UF
71-48 | 4th season overall

Eric Musselman
90-37 | 4th season at Arkansas
200-71 | 8th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 26-14
All-Time/Away: 7-9
Series under Golden: 0-0
Away under Golden: 0-0
Last Meeting: L, 74-82, 2/22/22 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
TBD
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 177 Gr. 21.0 5.3 3.1 2.1 ast
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 So. 27.9 10.3 4.4 1.6 3fg
11 Kyle Lofton G 6-3 188 Gr. 31.8 8.9 3.1 3.4 ast
24 Riley Kugel G 6-5 207 Fr. 20.3 7.6 2.6 0.8 stl

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
15 Makhi Mitchell F 6-9 230 Sr. 20.2 7.2 5.8 1.4 blk
22 Makhel Mitchell F 6-10 240 Sr. 14.5 4.7 3.6 1.9 blk
0 Anthony Black G 6-7 198 Fr. 35.5 13.0 5.2 4.3 ast
1 Ricky Council IV G 6-6 205 Jr. 35.4 16.5 3.3 2.6 ast
4 Davonte Davis G 6-4 185 Jr. 33.7 11.2 4.2 3.0 ast

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
5​

Five Gators scored in double figures in Wednesday’s win vs. Ole Miss,
led by Myreon Jones with 15 points on a season-high five 3-pointers.

19/2O​

Over the past three games, Kyle Lofton has a 19/2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Lofton has also posted double-figure scoring in each of the last two games with 12 vs.Vanderbilt and 10 vs. Ole Miss.

10​

Kowacie Reeves has 10 made field goals over the last two games (.476), including four 3-pointers. He scored 14 points vs. Vanderbilt and 13 against Ole Miss to bounce back from a 3-for-20 stretch over the previous four games

 

GATORS AT A GLANCE​

• Florida travels to Arkansas coming off a win vs. Ole Miss that saw five players score double figures, but the Gators now must adjust to losing All-SEC big man Colin Castleton, who suffered a broken hand in the game.

• The injury poses a significant challenge for the Gators as Colin Castleton has led UF in scoring (16.0), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (78), free throws made (113) and co-led in steals (24, Kyle Lofton).

• Kyle Lofton has dished a team-high 81 assists, and Will Richard paces Florida with 40 made 3-pointers and a .404 3-point percentage.

• Florida ranks 16th in defensive efficiency and eighth in two-point field goal percentage defense nationally (KenPom). The Gators have held SEC opponents to .393 from the field and .302 from 3-point range.

• As a team, the Gators’ 5.7 blocked shots per game rank fifth in the NCAA. Individually, Colin Castleton’s 3.00 blocked shots per game rank tied for third the nation.

• The Gators have played a top-25 schedule in the nation (KenPom) and recently completed the most challenging four-game stretch in program history, which included three top-five opponents (two on the road) and a trip to Kentucky.

• Prior to his injury, Colin Castleton had four straight 20-point games, including a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double at #3 Alabama. He had also led the Gators in scoring in eight consecutive contests.

• Colin Castleton’s 20 points and nine rebounds led the Gators’ win vs. #2 Tennessee, along with Kyle Lofton’s 14 points and four rebounds. Both Lofton and Will Richard posted a +26 plus-minus. The win marked Florida’s sixth all-time top-2 win and matched the highest ranked home win in program history.

• With his outing at Kentucky, Colin Castleton became the first player since Dwyane Wade 20 years ago (3/8/03 vs. UK) to post 25 points, eight ebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and a steal against an SEC team.

• Florida turned in a complete performance vs. South Carolina, where Castleton’s 18 points led five scorers in double figures and the Gators dished a season-high 21 assists vs. five turnovers. Myreon Jones flirted with a
triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists -- both career highs -- to go along with nine points and zero turnovers.

• UF built a 16-point first-half lead at Mississippi State, then staved off the Bulldogs’ rally, getting a stop on the final possession of the game to seal the win. Colin Castleton posted 13 points, while Will Richard added 12 on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range. Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones combined for 11 assists and zero turnovers, and Lofton chipped in a season-high and team-leading eight rebounds.

• Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 16 behind strong performances in wins at LSU and vs. #20 Missouri. At LSU, Castleton posted 18 points and five blocks with a career night at the free throw line (12-for-15) to help the Gators snap LSU’s 13-game home winning streak. He followed up with an all-around performance against Mizzou, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

• UF’s 19-point rally at Florida State marked the fourth-largest in team history and the largest on the road since a 22-point comeback at South Carolina on Feb. 24, 1993. Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

• Arkansas won five straight in SEC action before its current two-
game skid, including a 15-point win at Kentucky. The Razorbacks
own neutral-site nonconference wins against San Diego State and
Oklahoma.

• Ricky Council IV leads Arkansas with 16.5 points per game, while
projected first-round NBA Draft pick Anthony Black averages 13.0 and
Davonte Davis adds 11.2.

• Arkansas has battle injury, losing Trevon Brazile (11.8 ppg) for the
season after just nine games, while projected lottery pick Nick Smith
Jr. (9.9 ppg) returned recently and has been limited to seven games.

• Black leads the Razorbacks with 111 assists and 50 steals, while Davia
has a team-high 33 made 3-pointers and Makhel Mitchell’s 38 blocked
shots pace the team.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Jan. 31 Texas A&M W 81-70
Feb. 4 at South Carolina W 65-63
Feb. 7 at Kentucky W 88-73
Feb. 11 Mississippi State L 64-70
Feb. 15 at Texas A&M L 56-62

OPPONENT’S UPCOMING GAMES
Feb. 21 Georgia
Feb. 25 at Alabama
Feb. 28 at Tennessee
March 4 Kentucky
March 8-12 SEC Tournament

LAST 20 VS. ARKANSAS (16-4)
Jan. 17, 2009 H W 80-65
March 12, 2009 SEC W 73-58
Jan. 21, 2010 A W 71-66
Jan. 22, 2011 H W 75-43
Feb. 18, 2012 A W 98-68
Feb. 5, 2013 A L 69-80
Feb. 23, 2013 H W 71-54
Jan. 11, 2014 A W/OT 84-82
Jan. 31, 2015 H W 57-56
Feb. 3, 2016 H W 87-83
March 10, 2016 SEC W 68-61
Dec. 29, 2016 A W 81-72
March 1, 2017 H W 78-65
Jan. 17, 2018 H W 88-73
March 9, 2018 SEC L 72-80
Jan. 9, 2019 A W 57-51
March 14, 2019 SEC W 66-50
Feb. 18, 2020 H W 73-59
Feb. 16, 2021 A L 64-75
Feb. 22, 2022 H L 74-82

 

Life After Castleton: It'll Take a Village​

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Colin Castleton bumped hands with Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakfeield during a routine, completely inadvertent and benign sequence five minutes into the second half Wednesday night, the Florida Gators not only lost 23 percent of their points, 22 percent of their rebounds and 52 percent of their blocked shots, but also the heart of their team and voice in the locker room. A case can be made that no player in the Southeastern Conference was as valuable to his respective club as Castleton was to Florida. Now he's gone. Out for the season with a broken right hand.

"I felt horrible for him," senior center Jason Jitoboh said. "He was playing great basketball. He had big things coming. No one guy can fill Colin's shoes, we know that."

The season, however, goes on. And while there is no player on the UF roster that can come close to replicating what Castleton did for his team, the Gators (14-12, 7-6) have a dozen other warm bodies — Jitoboh figuring prominently in the mix — and they're going to need several of them (maybe all) to pick up their level of play and productivity starting with Saturday's matinee SEC date against Arkansas (17-8, 6-7) at always-bombastic Bud Walton Arena.

No one knows for certain how UF's final five regular-season games will play out, but don't rule out CJ Felder, Niels Lane or even freshman Aleks Szymczyk making cameos of meaningful minutes.

"Obviously, we're going to be a little different. Colin was a huge part of our team on both sides of the ball," UF coach Todd Golden said Friday. "It's harder changing a whole lot at this time of the year, but we're going to have to do things a little differently, trying to capitalize on the personnel that are going to be playing more. Obviously, it's a difficult thing to have to overcome this point in the season, but at the same time it's an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up; guys who haven't had the same opportunity earlier in the year. We're going to see what they've got."

From the outside, the external buzz may be UF's season ended with Castleton's season, but that's not the internal vibe. Nor, frankly, should it be.

"It's definitely devastating for us, but it's about that next-man mentality and stepping up to the challenge," sophomore guard Will Richard said. "It's a big loss, everybody knows that, but we have guys on our team who can take on bigger roles. I mean, we don't have a choice. Everyone has to do more than what they've been doing and it starts with Jason."

Jitoboh, the 6-foot-11, 300-pound senior, has been in this situation before. Sort of.

Last season, when Castleton was sidelined for six games with a shoulder injury, Jitoboh moved into the starting lineup and performed admirably. He had 10 rebounds in a win over Vanderbilt, then 12 points and five rebounds in a loss at Ole Miss. Jitoboh was averaging 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds over the first four games in his new role when he suffered a season-ending (and also a career-threatening) eye injury at Tennessee.

After undergoing four surgeries and an offseason of rehab, Jitoboh was cleared and returned in '22-23 to play minimal minutes (8.7 per game) behind Castleton, averaging just 2.3 points and 1.3 rebounds. At the 15:05 mark against the Rebels, everything changed.

After a stoppage of play to allow Castleton to leave the floor, Jitoboh's battlefield promotion was official.

On Saturday, he'll enter Walton Arena not wondering how many minutes he might get or if a mistake or foul trouble will get him yanked, but rather knowing the Gators need him on the court for extended periods of time; like the nearly 14 straight minutes (all but the final 44 seconds) he played to help UF close out Mississippi.

Mentally, his role basically is the same as it was when front-line duty called last season.

"It definitely helps you get in a rhythm and staying confident because you get a feel for the game versus spurts of the game and trying to do what you can with a few minutes," said Jitoboh, whose greatest charge could be staying out of foul trouble (his 48 fouls rank third on the team, despite playing the 10th-most minutes). "Having the trust of the coaches and knowing you're going to be out there goes a long way with your confidence."

As Golden said, the Gators are definitely going to be different. The offense over the first 26 games was designed to play through Castleton, who had the freedom to make basketball plays in the high and low post, and had become adept at passing out of double teams. His 71 assists are second on the team and only 10 fewer than point guard Kyle Lofton.

But Jitoboh is not the kind of skilled "big" an offense plays through. He is, however, a high IQ player and knows how to make basketball plays. Against Ole Miss, for example, he was defended in the post on the right side of the block and had the wherewithal to spot Kowacie Reeves on the far side of the floor. His cross-court skip past was perfect and Reeves bombed a 3-pointer.

"Just have to be smart. Work smarter not harder. Pick my spots. Stay vertical," Jitoboh said of his plan to remain on the floor for however long his coach needs him. "I'm in better shape now. I didn't feel tired out there at all [last game]. It all felt normal to me, which I think is a testament to the work I've put in."

It was a crushing development for Castleton, whose college career is over, and a seismic all-around hit to the Gators. But what's done is done.

It sounds callous , maybe even cold, but it's a mantra — and reality — that teams in every sport every day invoke: Next guy.

'We're 26 games into the season and we've been pretty consistent with our style of play and how we've gone about it, but you can't control the variable we're dealing with, so we're not going to spend a lot of time thinking about it. We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves," Golden said. "Again, 'opportunity' is the word I'll continue to use for guys who maybe haven't played a lot. We've got five games down the stretch here for maybe people who haven't played a lot to get a chance to step up and see what they're capable of."