The Florida Gators took down the Oregon State Beavers, 81-68, on Friday night to advance to the fifth-place game of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament.
UF got out to a very hot start in this one and never really looked back. Florida spent just 37 seconds of this ame without the lead, and most of the time it was a double digit lead. [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] didn’t have a monster night thanks to four fouls, but he looked a lot better than he did against Xavier and proved that not every 7-footer is going to shut him down. There’s still plenty of time for him to prove that he’s one of the nation’s top big men, but his draft stock is about where it was at the end of last season despite a great start to the year.
On the other hand, guard [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] as lit up the scoreboard in each of his two starts during this tournament. He figures to be a major part of the starting lineup moving forward, even if it means cutting into [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag]’ playing time. Bonham led all scorers with 19 points, and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] was lights out with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Although it was a nice bounce-back win, Florida still has to prove itself against a non-Quadrant 4 opponent to earn some respect this year. That likely won’t happen in the fifth-place game of this tournament, but conference play might present the opportunity.