Colin Castleton to lead Florida Basketball over upset-minded Oral Roberts

Seventh-seeded Florida Basketball will face the 15-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in the South Region second-round matchup. Tip-off is set for 7:45 p.m (ET) at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, with TrueTV televising the event.

Florida (15-9) is in the second round of the Tournament for a fourth straight time after fending off 10-seeded Virginia Tech 75-70 in overtime on Thursday. Meanwhile, Oral Roberts (17-10) upset No. 2 seed Ohio State 75-72 in overtime to advance to the second round for the second time in program history, with the last time being in 1974.

Colin Castleton dominates paint for UF

Colin Castleton was excellent against Virginia Tech, controlling the paint on both ends. The 6-11 senior center tallying 19 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with three blocks over 43 minutes.

“Coaches talk about it, and I know what I’ve got to bring every day and, if I don’t, then it doesn’t look good on myself and the team,” Castleton said. “I realized that I had to do better on the rebounding part, and that just comes with aggressiveness, playing [with] a high motor and just wanting it more than the other team.”

Castleton, whose double-double was his second of the year, produced five points and three rebounds in the extra period, but it was Tre Mann’s 3-pointer with the shot clock running down and 23 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Gators as it put them up by four. Mann finished with 14 points, on 5 of 9 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, as well as four assists and four turnovers. Scottie Lewis added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and four caroms.

Florida trailed by as many as 10 points midway through the first half and was down by eight early in the second half. UF held a six-point lead with 2:50 left before blowing the advantage down the stretch. The Gators outscored the Hokies 11-5 in overtime.

Florida shot a scorching hot 56.5% from the field as the Gators made 21 of 33 of their two-point shots. UF, which clamped down defensively in the second half, did a fabulous guarding the 3-point line over the last 25 minutes and dominated the defensive glass — nabbing 83.3% of all available boards. Turnovers and free throw shooting were an issue.