The Florida Gators opened the 2021-22 season with a 74-61 win over Elon Tuesday night.
Florida (1-0) debuted a brand new team on Tuesday night that includes some familiar names but a plethora of new faces via the transfer portal. Florida faltered a little down the stretch but had an impressive opening win ahead of an important matchup against Florida State.
The Great - Team defense
Mike White came to Florida seven years ago preaching that he wanted his program to be known for its strong defensive nature. That hasn't panned out each season, Florida will play strong defensively in spurts but
Florida was really active and harassed a team that lived on the perimeter and was a media timeout from the NCAA Tournament last year. The Gators held Elon to just 38% shooting, and 25% behind the arc. Florida out-rebounded the Phoenix 43-34 and were also really good on the defensive glass, grabbing 25 boards.
The Gators also had seven steals on the night.
The Good -Colin Castleton opens his senior season
Castleton finished with 18 points on 7-of-11shootin, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 6 blocks. The six blocks are an opening night record for the Florida Gators basketball program.
Castleton is the senior leader on this team and showed that he's ready and capable to fill that role this season. He even had a baseline to baseline dribble that ended with an assist to Austin Appleby for a three.
The Bad - Free throws and finishing
The Gators led 47-24 at halftime but were outscored 37-27 in the second half of the game.
"We just let up in all aspects. The first half we were good and then we let our foot off the gas," Castleton said of the second half. "We gotta work on that. We just talked about that in the locker room. We gotta fix that."
"We're an older team. the guys on this team should know better that we have to play two halves," Myreon Jones said. "We can't just play one. Playing sloppy and not taking open shots, we can't do that. We've gotta fix that and I'm confident we will."
Florida was also not great from the charity stripe. They shot just 55% (16-29), which Castleton blamed on himself.
"I was 4-10, so I was pretty much the issue," Castleton. "That pissed me off a little bit."
