Colin Castleton says Tennessee was a 'desperation game' for Florida

Florida opened February in emphatic fashion with a 67-54 win over No. 2 Tennessee in Gainesville. It was a statement victory for the Gators as they came in at just 12-9 overall. In the end, fifth-year senior Colin Castleton was honest about just how much the desperation from him and his team played a part in Wednesday night’s win.

Castleton said during media that Florida had not done what was necessary earlier in the season to secure close games. When they needed it, though, he thought their best intangibles shined through to get the job done against the Volunteers.

“We’ve played a lot of good, tough teams this year. We’ve been in close games throughout the year but just didn’t do what we needed to do to close them. So we knew tonight? It was a desperation game,” said Castleton. “We have a tough schedule in this little stretch here and we’ve got to win some games. We all know that, everybody knows that. Just having that grit, that toughness to come down with rebounds, going for loose balls…We were able to just claw and fight and we came out on top.”

Castleton led the way in the effort from the Gators with 20 points and nine rebounds. However, it was what Florida was able to do defensively that won them this game.

While Tennessee won on the glass by seven, Florida held them to 27.9% from the field and 20% from distance. That was more than enough to help the Gators go on enough scoring runs, including a 12-0 stretch in the first and a 20-8 flurry to end it, to get them their biggest win of the season.

Florida came in last night with some serious work to do resume-wise when it came to the NCAA Tournament. That fact still remains but, with a win that not many teams will have this season over the Vols, Castleton and his teammates did themselves a big favor. Even so, they just can’t let this game now go to waste with two tough road trips to Kentucky and Alabama up next for them.