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Photo: Milleon Jones. Credit: Zach Goodall
fifth year guard Milleon Jones It almost shone to post a triple-double as Florida beat SEC foe South Carolina 81-60.
Jones, who has proven to be the catalyst for Florida’s recent success, has shown his facilitation skills in three straight starts taking offense after a season-long struggle with 8 and 0 assists. His performance covered his entire UF on Wednesday night.
He added nine points, including an And-1 finish. Colin Castletonand his team-leading 10 rebounds, arguably his career-best outing in the orange and blue thread, catalyzed Florida’s success from start to finish.
Florida capped a slow start plagued by their second consecutive appearance in conference play.
Castleton starts point guard after chipping Kyle Lofton I brought the ball to the court trying to set up on the half-court offense. Simulating a pick-and-roll at the top of the key, Lofton pushed into the Gamecock defense before presenting a lob to Castleton.
The Florida big man made an early statement by snatching the ball out of the air and slamming it home.
Setting the tone for how Florida would take the game to South Carolina in the first half, they scored 34 points in 20 minutes with 45.2% shooting from the floor.
That aggressive mindset carries over to the entire game.
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At the end of the first half, Golden used his analytical background to rush Lofton up the court when the clock dipped to 50 seconds for a 2–1 scoring chance. The 5th year guard saw an opportunity Jason Zitbo Knocked down the shot attempt with 34.1 seconds remaining.
The Gators held tight at the defensive end and regained possession with 4.6 seconds remaining. Assistant Kevin Hobde crafted the play for Jones to sprint down the court with a clear vision of the court. He spotted Reeves on the left flank and gave him a wide-open look from beyond the arc.
Reeves failed to connect, but showed their intention to keep the pressure on.
That was evident as Florida shot 48% from the field in the second half and hovered around the clip for 47% of the game. They continued their onslaught of points from inside and outside the three-point line, beating the Gamecocks 47 to 34 in the final 20 minutes.
Castleton (18), Reeves (15), Lofton (10), Will Richard (10) and Riley Kugel (14) each had double-digit scores.
As a result, Todd Golden completed a winning sweep against the SEC’s first-year head coach, 5-0, after winning over the Gamecocks of Lamont Paris. A rematch between Georgia’s Mike White and his LSU’s Matt McMahon will take place at the end of the regular season.
The win is in line with the momentum-building win Florida was looking for as a tough four-game stretch stares the unit head-on.
Florida heads to Manhattan, Kansas to take over former wing keyyonte johnson No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats in Saturday night’s next contest. This conference is part of the longstanding Big 12/SEC Challenge.
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