Colin Castleton discusses Florida's adjustment without him in the lineup

As Florida opens SEC Tournament play against Mississippi State on Thursday afternoon, big man Colin Castleton is watching from the bench after suffering a broken hand.

But Castleton is not sitting idle. In fact, he thinks his presence on the bench — and not on the court — can still help his teammates.

“Just the camaraderie we have as a team is great,” Castleton told the SEC Network’s Marty Smith on the broadcast of the game. “I feel like me getting injured can help guys maybe step up a little bit than they did before. They’re in bigger roles, everybody’s got to step up.”

Florida hasn’t packed it in on its season, despite the fact that an NCAA Tournament berth is unlikely without the team winning the entire SEC Tournament.

You have to roll with the punches, and Castleton’s injury was a big one.

“That’s something that coach (Todd) Golden talked about,” Castleton said. “You can’t pout about it, you’ve got to move on, get ready. So my job as a leader is just talk to these guys, whatever they needed. Anything they see on the court or I see, I just tell them pointers and then they hoop.”

Florida fighting without Colin Castleton

With Colin Castleton sidelined, Florida’s team takes on a completely different look. The Gators have to rely more on perimeter shooting and less on post scoring.

Castleton watched the first half of the first half against Mississippi State and already saw some trends developing.

He shared them with the SEC Network broadcast crew.

“We’ve got to guard the paint a little bit better,” Castleton said. “Their backup big, (Will) McNair, he’s physical. He gets on the (offensive) glass. We’ve got to continue to just play free and with energy, that’s the biggest thing. If we match physicality, Mississippi State is a hard-playing team. We’ve just got to hit shots and just play hard, talk on defense, that’s the biggest thing. Paint touches is the biggest thing right now.”

Mississippi State led 30-17 at the time of this writing.