After four consecutive wins, including two wins against the top 15 opponents Tennessee and West Virginia, number 22, Florida, broke the Top 25 this week for the first time since November 2019.
The Gators (10-4, 6-3 SEC) host South Carolina (4-6, 2-4 SEC) in Gainesville on Wednesday night.
Florida coach Mike White credited the team’s two-week break after losing preseason Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson on December 12 for putting his season back on track. Johnson passed out on the court that day during a game against the state of Florida and was later hospitalized for more than a week.
“It’s nice to know that I hope your boys will gain a little confidence,” said White. “We hope that this level of confidence will help to make our people embrace the work even more. After Keyontae, this team can still be a very good team.”
The enhanced game by Colin Castleton and Omar Payne was complemented by guards Tre Mann, Tyree Appleby and Noah Locke.
Castleton had 21 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in the 85-80 victory over the then-null. 11 West Virginia on Saturday. Castleton (13.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game) did a solid job of painting against Mountaineers striker Derek Culver, limiting him to seven points in the second half.
“We were just being soft in the first half and we didn’t play hard enough,” said Castleton. “(Culver) got a bunch of easy buckets that he shouldn’t have, so he kind of focused on that in the second half and didn’t give him as many easy looks as we did in the first half.”
Gamecocks, who have lost four of their last five, have been devastated by problems with COVID-19, as well as injuries, which have hampered their efforts to maintain any consistent success.
South Carolina got off to a bad start on Saturday at Vanderbilt, with the Commodores using a 21-5 streak in the first half to claim an eventual 93-81 victory.
Gamecocks coach Frank Martin is hopeful that his latest casualty, guard Trae Hannibal, will be available to play against the Gators after hitting the deck and leaving the game early.
“After he left the game, his back was a little tense and, because of the score, I would not put him back there,” said Martin. “Our coach thinks he will be fine.”
South Carolina scorer AJ Lawson led again with 21 points, but Jermaine Couisnard, a 30.1 percent pitcher this season, hit 2 out of 15 and finished with six points.
Keyshawn Bryant (15.4 points per game) had problems at the start and was limited to 13 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes. Without him, Vanderbilt made 22 to 27 on the free-throw line, while South Carolina made only 9 to 14 attempts.
“I probably could have put it back a little earlier, but I didn’t,” said Martin. “I think he was about six minutes back. I could have put him back and he could have missed the 12-minute mark, so his minutes wouldn’t have changed.”
– Field-level media
Originally published