Castleton sparks Florida to 76-67 win over Florida State

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Alex Fudge takes flight on posterizing dunk for Gators

Alex Fudge takes off and drops a ferocious dunk for the Florida Gators.

Nov 19, 2022, 03:37 am

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- — Colin Castleton scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and Florida overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat Florida State 76-67 on Friday night.

Florida improves to 3-1 under first-year coach Todd Golden. Florida State, which had never even started a season with two straight losses since Leonard Hamilton took over the program in 2002, is now 0-4.

Darin Green Jr. had 12 points and Matthew Cleveland scored 10 to guide Florida State to a 43-26 lead at halftime.

Trey Bonham sank a 3-pointer to open the second half and spark a 9-0 run for the Gators. Caleb Mills ended the run with a three-point play and Florida State led 46-35 with 17:36 left to play.

Then Castleton took over. The senior forward made three straight layups and added another one after a basket by Will Richard to get Florida within a point. Bonham gave the Gators a 47-46 lead on a jumper with 13:40 to go and Castleton followed with a dunk.

Cameron Corhen's basket ended Florida's 14-0 run, but Castleton answered with a three-point play to give the Gators a 52-48 lead at the 12:40 mark. Florida's lead was 11 just 58 seconds later after Richard opened a 7-0 run with a layup and capped it with a 3-pointer.

Castleton sank 9 of 14 shots and led all with nine rebounds. Richard added 13 points and six boards. Bonham had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Mills topped the Seminoles with 21 points. Green and Cleveland scored 14 apiece.

Florida State came into the game having won seven of the last eight match-ups with Florida, including four straight at home.

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