Florida basketball seemed to offer a glimpse into the defense-first, “Mike White” brand of basketball for the first time since 2017 in a suffocating season-opening win over Elon Tuesday evening.
UF enforced full-court havoc on the Elon guards with handsy, expressive defense, poking away seven steals against the Phoenix that were celebrated more intensely than any basket.
This lockdown defense, paired with a dominant performance from center Colin Castleton and a refreshing level of off-ball movement and transition offense, powered the Gators to a convincing 74-61 victory on opening night.
Castleton stamped his imposing 6-foot-11 figure on the game from the opening tip. The Michigan transfer scored six points in the first four minutes of the game to give UF a 12-6 lead, finishing a pair of crafty post moves and showing off his newly-developed perimeter game by taking his defender off the dribble and gliding to the rim.
In all, the Preseason First-Team All-SEC selection filled up the stat sheet in 23 minutes of action with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and six rejections.
Elon punched back after a trademark Florida scoring drought, as a three-point shot from Hunter Woods cut Florida’s advantage to just one seven minutes into the ballgame.
The Gators found opportunities in transition to end their scoring woes, as a trailing Tyree Appleby found space on the wing before the high-flying Anthony Duruji flushed a tip-jam before splitting a pair at the line after an acrobatic alley-oop attempt. Florida continued to pour it on as Castleton swished a pair of free throws before receiving a gift-wrapped dump-off from Myreon Jones. Phlandrous Fleming showed off his 2021 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year chops with an impressive steal on the perimeter and an and-one finish through contact on the break.
C.J. Felder converted a gritty layup on the next possession, and after an Elon three-pointer the Gators finished the half on a 14-3 run to take an imposing 47-24 lead into the locker room.
The second-half largely served as a formality, but it did offer a glimpse into the high-volume scoring potential of Myreon Jones.
After a quiet first half where he struggled from beyond the arc and with finishing through contact, Jones assumed a more confident demeanor after the break, no longer hesitating on his shots and converting a number of contested looks. The Penn State transfer scored more than half of Florida’s points in the second half, managing 15 points in just 12 minutes while shooting 4-5 from the perimeter.
It was a Jones three-ball that gave Florida its largest lead of the night at 28, but a number of stagnant offensive possessions paired with strange rotations filled with end-of-rotation players allowed Elon to creep back in the game. Elon called a timeout after closing the gap to 13 with two minutes to play, but an emphatic alley-oop slam from Gatkek closed the door on any late-game rebirth for the Phoenix.
Florida will return to action on Sunday as the Gators will look to take down Florida State for the first time in Mike White’s tenure. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. from the O’Connell Center and will be broadcast on ESPN.
Stay tuned to Gators Territory.
