Colin Castleton previews matchup with Vanderbilt, Liam Robbins

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Colin Castleton was a bright spot in Florida‘s lopsided loss at Alabama, posting a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double with 16 second-half points.

That matched his career high scoring output in the SEC, and Castleton became the first Gator since Nick Calathes in 2009 to post three straight 20-point games in league play.

Here is everything Colin Castleton said on Friday about the Vanderbilt game, his matchup with Liam Robbins and what the Gators need to do make the NCAA Tournament.

On how to get the defense back:

Colin Castleton: “We just got to stay with it. We got to be consistent, come to practice today, work hard. Focus on the little things we haven’t been doing, as well as the last couple games. Transition has definitely been hurting us, I think rebounding also. The last few games we’ve been outrebounded like by four every single game. So being able to just focus on the little things.”

On whether everything is front of the team Tournament-wise:

Castleton: “Yeah 100 percent, that’s got to be the mindset. I’d be questioning if anybody else didn’t have a mindset like that. But we just got to win games, we got to win out, take care of business, take it game by game, practice by practice. We can’t look too big picture even those it’s seven games, it’s not too far away, but we just got to lock in, like I was telling him, on the little things, get our defense back, start making some shots and we’ll win a couple games there.”

On what he sees from Vanderbilt and its win over Tennessee:

Castleton: “Yeah, they made tough shots. They kept it close that whole game; I watched a little bit of film already on that game. And they got some good guards, they have a good big who protects the rim really well and he can stretch the floor a little bit. So, it’s gonna be a tough challenge, but, you know, they’re coming into here. We’ve got to take care of home court and start to get this going the right way.”

On the matchup with Vanderbilt center Liam Robbins:

Castleton: “Yeah, he’s a good rim-protector. I watched some film, he moves his feet pretty well for a big guy, so, I see a lot of myself. When he’s blocking shots, he uses his length and verticality. But it’s just like any other match-up. There’s a lot of good bigs in the SEC this year, so just got to attack them and that’s the only way you go at a shot-blocker. Guys score on me, they just got at me against my body, so it’s the same thing when they’re going versus a shot-blocker.”

On UF controlling its own destiny and the importance of that:

Castleton: “Yeah for sure. We control our own destiny. We have seven games left, so if we can take care of business – I want to win every single one, and that’s the goal, that’s the mindset. We’ve got to just win games, but we can’t look big-picture like I was telling them. You gotta just take it one game at a time, because it will stress too many people out. So being able to just lock in on each game and focusing on how we’re going to win this game and then the film session, little things day by day, are the biggest thing. So, we’ve just got to be ready for this weekend and then we’ll go from there.”

On putting crowd noise behind him at Alabama:

Castleton: “Honestly, I don’t even hear it. I didn’t realize it till I watched the game on film, but when I’m like in that zone, it’s kind of hard. You just block everything out and kind of just focus. Because it don’t really matter when I’m playing basketball, it’s just me and the basketball on the court, so that’s really how simple I tried to dumb it down, but when you’re on court it really just zones out. I heard the arena because of how loud it was on their runs, but I didn’t really necessarily hear what they’re telling me.” 

On how he’s doing after taking a hit to the face:

Castleton: “I was joking with the ref saying like, ‘I got a hard head, so it didn’t really hurt me that bad.’ But, yeah it definitely hurt yesterday when I woke up. You can see it’s purple, but that comes with it, that comes with being a big man down low and being aggressive. Hopefully he’s alright because I know Noah came out the game, so, he’s a good kid, good player, and hopefully he’s doing better. But I saw that we banged pretty hard, and I didn’t see realize yesterday until I woke up. I was like ‘Dang it’s purple.’ So, it comes with it, I got cuts and bruises everywhere.”

On how important he thinks his leadership is:

Castleton: “Yeah, just using my leadership and knowing the guys are gonna hear me out. The majority of time on defense, I know where guys are supposed to be. I’ve been in college for enough time. I know Coach Golden and how he wants to, you know, guard ball screens. So, you know, when I see something, I’ll definitely say it. And, you know, it was a couple errors that we made in the Alabama game where they were able to get open shots or open dunks. And it’s just little things, like, you know that we have to be more focused. We gotta lock in on what we’re doing on defense because that’s what got us to where we’re at, on defense. So being able to, like I said, to just focus on those little things and knowing where you’re supposed to be on the court at all times. I have to continue to do a better job of talking to my teammates about that, but we’ll be better.”

On if the single-season block record is on his mind:

Castleton: “Yeah, I mean, hopefully, we’ll make a run in the postseason ’cause that will help it a lot, obviously. So we just gotta keep winning games, and, you know, that’ll figure itself out, but I’m not too focused on it. I just want to win.”

On whether it would be a cool accomplishment:

Castleton: “Definitely would be cool, for sure. Definitely would be awesome, but, you know, if I get 100 blocks, and we don’t go to the tournament, like, doesn’t really mean that to me.”

On what has stood out about Golden over the course of the year?

Castleton: “Just, like I tell everybody, his persistent attitude every day. Whether it’s a good win or a bad loss, he teaches us the right mindset. He teaches us the right things. He tells us just to move on quickly and have, you know, a professional mindset. That’s the biggest thing about me, it’s just the stuff off the court. Like he’s growing and learning on the court like we all are. It’s a bunch of new guys, so I think he’s gonna do a better job as time goes on as well with just certain things on the court. But as a person, he’s great and, you know, you connect with him well. I think he’s just gonna continue to build this program.”

On what happens in the locker room to make the right adjustments:

Golden: “He definitely tells us things we need to fix. There’s only so many things you can do at halftime because, you know, going into the second half, the other team’s gonna probably do the same things they were beating you with that. Like transition against Alabama, getting their threes up, ball-screen breakdowns, things like that. So it’s more of just coming together and realizing what we need to work on individually. Like, ‘All right, we gotta come together right here. Let’s fix this.’ And you know, obviously Coach Golden telling us things we need to get better at in the second half.”

On Riley Kugel and how impressive his progress has been:

Castleton: “Very. You know, he’s grown a lot since he got here. He came here late, so he was little bit behind the 8-ball, but he’s put in the work every day, has a great mindset. He’s young, so for a guy like that, it’s definitely promising for, you know, the rest of his career. He’s gonna become an amazing player here and do a lot of good things. So, you know, he’s so young. He makes mistakes, obviously. And we talk to him about that, but that comes with the age and just being able to mature throughout the year and his years here.”

On if he can see the difference from November Riley to February Riley?

Castleton: “Yeah, 100 percent. He’s just more assertive when he gets the ball. You know, he doesn’t hesitate or make a move or take five dribbles like a high schooler. Like, he’s gonna attack his guy that’s guarding him, and he makes the right play. There’s things he needs to grow on like every player, but I think he’s gonna continue to that. He’s playing well.”