Castleton-less Gators can't hang with Hogs
In their first game without Colin Castleton, the Gators kept it close for the opening 30 minutes Saturday before getting boat raced by Arkansas after halftime.
Trailing 37-31 at the break, Florida gave up a 17-2 run to the Razorbacks in the first six minutes of the second half while only attempting four field goals.
That put the Gators down by 21 and they never came closer than 18 the rest of the way in an 84-65 loss, suffering their fourth defeat in the last five games.
Florida’s defense allowed a season-worst 57.6 shooting percentage to the Hogs, who dominated offensively despite only hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
The Gators, meanwhile, had one of their worst shooting performances of the season (37 percent) and made four of their 21 attempts from downtown (19 percent). That marks their sixth time shooting under 20 percent beyond the arc and the second game in their last three.
Jason Jitoboh made his first start of the season in place of Castleton, who suffered a broken hand on Wednesday against Ole Miss. Jitoboh finished with 4 points and a season-high 24 minutes.
Aleks Szymczyk also played 20 minutes and scored a season-high 8 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers. But without Castleton’s defensive presence, the Gators were outscored 52-36 in the paint.
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Arkansas forward Jalen Graham took full advantage of Castleton’s absence, scoring a career-high 26 points on 12-for-15 shooting. Four more players also scored in double figures for the Razorbacks.
The lone bright spot for Florida was true freshman Riley Kugel, who posted a team-high 17 points. He’s averaging 15.5 points in his last four games.
Will Richard finished with 10 points and Kowacie Reeves had nine off the bench, but both failed to connect from downtown along with Myreon Jones.
The Gators (14-13/7-7 SEC) return to the O’Dome on Wednesday for their rivalry game against Kentucky. The Wildcats defeated Florida 72-67 earlier this month in Lexington, but that was with 25 points from Castleton.
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