Marsh Madness: Takeaways From the Florida Gators 76-69 Victory Over Army
College hoops have finally arrived.
After three canceled games to begin Florida basketball's 2020-21 season due to a COVID-19 spike, UF took the floor against Army on Wednesday. The 3-0 Black Knights took their first loss of this young season to Mike White's group by a score of 76-69.
Here are some key notes from Wednesday's contest for the Florida Gators.
Tre Mann oozed confidence
It's no secret that the 2019 McDonald's All-American did not have the freshman season many anticipated. Last year, Tre Mann averaged an underwhelming 5.3 points per game and rarely got an opportunity to shine.
Not anymore.
The sophomore from The Villages started at point guard Wednesday for the orange and blue and was wildly impressive on both ends of the floor. Mann was 50 percent from three-point land, 75 percent from the free-throw line and had a 46 percent field goal percentage on his way to 19 points.
Perhaps even more impressive, the 6-foot-5 guard accumulated five steals. His aggression on the defensive end was a first in his collegiate career.
That'll work.
Colin Castleton started the game
This isn't any sort of profound statement, just a statement of fact, but it is interesting. The frontcourt in the offseason was the biggest question mark for the Gators in terms of who would pick up the bulk of minutes there with Kerry Blackshear Jr. gone from the program.
Colin Castleton, an offseason transfer from Michigan, scored nine points in his orange and blue debut. Three of those points came from four attempts at the free-throw line, as he shot 75 percent from the charity stripe.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, he collected eight rebounds, three of them on the offensive glass. UF has desperately needed someone in the paint to scrap, Castleton showed that today, if nothing else.
It was apparent that Castleton, at least early on, will be a large piece to the frontcourt puzzle, as he played 25 minutes. Omar Payne played a healthy amount as well, at 19 minutes. It seems those two will make up the bulk of the minutes inside.
Keyontae Johnson is the offensive leader
Mann may have scored the most points for Florida on Wednesday, but Keyontae Johnson still stirs the offensive pot. Everything works off of the junior forward on that end of the floor.
Despite UF struggling for a large portion of the afternoon, and Army with an eye-opening 39-31 lead at halftime, Johnson had an unbelievable +18 plus-minus against the Black Knights.
Johnson was in foul trouble for a lot of the game but still turned in 27 minutes and 16 points. For White's group to drastically improve this season, Johnson is the most important ingredient to the recipe.
