Florida basketball: Gators outmatched, overwhelmed against Kansas State

Florida basketball went on the road knowing they had a tough task ahead of them against Kansas State. And after they got behind big at halftime, they just couldn’t climb out of the hole.

The Gators didn’t have a very good shooting night. They were 31% from the field and 18.2% from three-point range. The good news is that they held Kansas State to a poor offensive day as well. The Wildcats were 37.7% from the field and 23.5% from long range.

The biggest discrepancy on the stat sheet between the teams was in the rebounding column. The Gators brought it 36 rebounds, and the Wildcats grabbed 49. They also lost the turnover battle 14-12.

Florida’s leading scorer was once again Colin Castleton. He scored 13 points, got eight rebounds, and racked up four more blocks.

There were two more Gators who reached double figures. Will Richard and Myreon Jones both had 11 but combined to be just 3-13 from three-point range.

Kowacie Reeves struggled again, failing to score and going 0-5 from the field. Trey Bonham also struggled, as he just had one point and one rebound.

The Gators only got three bench points in this game. They got the free throw from Bonham, and one bucket from Alex Fudge. It’s hard to beat anybody with that little production from the bench, especially a top-five team on the road.

The Gators should be proud of what they did defensively despite their offensive struggles.

Kansas State averages 77.8 points per game, and the Gators held them to just 64. The Wildcats’ top scorer was Keyontae Johnson, and he had just 13 despite averaging 18.3. They also held Markquis Nowell to 13 while he averages 17.1.

The Gators are yet to put together a great offensive and defensive game against a good opponent. They have the chance to do that this week against Tennessee and Kentucky. If they can steal one of those games, it will be a win for the program.

Keep up with Florida basketball at Hail Florida Hail.