Florida Basketball: 3 Positives & 3 Negatives in Loss to Auburn

Florida Basketball Positive #1: Decrease in Turnovers

One of the biggest issues we saw when Florida basketball took on Alabama in their last game was turnovers, ending the game with 20 total as a team to Alabama’s 12.  However, in the game against Auburn, Florida only turned the ball over 12 times to Auburn’s 16.  This improvement is extremely impressive considering the team they were playing and shows that if anything, they focused on keeping the ball in their possession after the last game.

On the other hand, Florida also had 12 steals against Auburn while only giving the ball away via steal 9 times.  Being able to handle the ball while also making defensive improvements to give Auburn less of a chance at scoring is something that needed to be engrained into players, and clearly was.  Considering the potency of the Auburn offense, the more you can get the ball out of their hands and into your own the better, which Florida was able to do last night.

Florida Basketball Positive #2: Colin Castleton

While not necessarily a specific strength of the team, Colin Castleton had another amazing night for Florida basketball and has shown that he is the leader of this group.  Castleton would end the night with the following stat line:

• 22 points on 7-14 shooting (8-11 FTs)
• 10 total rebounds (6 offensive 4 defensive)
• 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, and 3 turnovers

You would have never known that Colin was a game-time decision for Florida before this game, as he looked phenomenal on the court.  While his amazing game did not lead to a win for Florida, it bodes extremely well for his draft stock, as he made quite a few impressive shots over defenders throughout the game (see link below).  With career highs in nearly every relevant statistic (points, assists, steals, blocks, rebounds, minutes) his production has led this team to be competitive in its games.

Florida Basketball Positive #3: Scoring Spread

The final strength worth mentioning is the spread, as Florida kept the game within 13 points all night.  The ability to keep a high octane offense from really pulling away from you is huge, especially when you even took the lead at one point.  There were multiple instances throughout the game where Florida would bring it back to within 5 or 6 points, and then Auburn would just shoot three-pointers and get their way out of it.

Being able to keep a game close is something that differentiates the horrible teams from the mid to high-level teams, and Florida was able to do so.  If they can keep games close while Auburn has heavy momentum, they can win games, they just need to be able to swing the momentum their way somehow.  Overall Florida did a good job keeping this game within reach considering the opponent and had their fair share of momentum at times keeping it even closer.