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at Mississippi State
1/16/2021 | 4 PM
Gators Sports Network / XM 381 (Internet 971)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With six-plus minutes to go and his team down by nine, Florida coach Mike White huddled with his players during a timeout and listened to them vow they were not going to lose Tuesday night’s home game to Ole Miss. OK, fine. White asked his worked-up bunch what defense they wanted to play to get back in the game.
“Man,” forward Colin Castleton shot back. “Straight up, one-on-one man.”
So, man it was.
And man up, the Gators did.
Castleton, the 6-foot-11 transfer from Michigan, was spectacular all night, but especially in those final minutes in helping key a ferocious UF run that included the final 14 points of the game, as the Gators smothered the Rebels when it mattered most and left Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center with a much-needed 72-63 victory that snapped a two-game losing streak.
It was an across-the-board, career performance by Castleton, who scored 21 points, tallied career highs of 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots to go with three assists. He also had a big hand (a swinging one) in the