Colin Castleton suffered broken hand against Ole Miss
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Colin Castleton’s season could be done after suffering a broken hand Wednesday night.
The 79-64 victory over Ole Miss comes with a huge price. Castleton is the Gators’ leading scorer at 16.0 points per game and averages 3.0 blocked shots per game. He earned his degree in the Fall and is the No. 3 shot-blocker in Florida history with 195.
He was replaced against the Rebels by fellow big man Jason Jitoboh, who Golden said would be the player to soak up the majority of minutes if Castleton remains out.
“We definitely need Jason,” Golden said. “That’s the one guy that we know is capable. He’s done a wonderful job of being a great teammate, understanding that he has a guy in Colin in front of him that’s playing like a top 10-15 player in the country.
“But as you saw in the second half I think he played the last 12 minutes without getting a sub. He kept himself in great shape. He knows all of our stuff, knows our coverages and I think he’s going to do a decent job if we need him to spell Colin here for a little bit.”
Castleton makes Florida Gators history
Last Saturday against Vanderbilt, Castleton reached 190 career blocks and passed Gator Great Al Horford (189) for third on the list.
The week prior, Castleton moved into fourth place past Horford’s teammate, Joakim Noah (184), with his first of three blocked shots against Kentucky.
“I mean, it’s awesome,” Castleton said of climbing the all-time blocks list. “Being able to just to know how much of an impact I’ve had on this program, and somewhere I love playing. I look up to the other guys that are on that list. So being able to see my name with the greats is definitely something that I’m humbled about. But I want to keep climbing that list, because the more I block shots, the more we can win games.”
His injury could keep him from joining Dwayne Schintzius (272) and Kevarruis Hayes (214) as the only Gators to block 200 career shots.
Castleton is now up to 78 blocks this season, which ranks as the fourth-highest single-season total at UF behind Schintzius (96, 90) and Noah (95).
The Gators will be back on the court this Saturday in Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks without Castleton. Florida has five more games left in the regular season before the SEC Tournament starts on March 8.
