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The Florida Gators were dealt a brutal injury blow on Wednesday night, as leading scorer Colin Castleton suffered a broken hand in the team's 79-64 win against Ole Miss.
Castleton left the game early in the second half and the official diagnosis was confirmed shortly after the Gators won the game.
“A 6-foot-11 center who started his career at Michigan, Castleton was on track for a first-team All-SEC campaign. He was averaging 16.5 points (third in the SEC), 7.9 rebounds (sixth) and three blocks (first) entering the week and had averaged 24.8 points and 9.5 rebounds over his past four games,” according to Jeff Borzello of ESPN.
The Florida Gators had lost three games in a row before getting back in the win column against Ole Miss, but with Castleton almost certain to miss the NCAA March Madness tournament, it's going to be difficult for the school to earn a bid.
Castleton earned second-team All-SEC honors last year after he averaged 16.2 points and nine rebounds per game for Florida Basketball.
Todd Golden's team will be in tough to earn a spot in March Madness, as they already entered the week on the periphery of the bubble, and will need an extremely strong finish to earn tournament consideration.
Florida will likely rely more heavily on big man Jason Jitoboh, who played 17 minutes in the Florida Gators' win against Ole Miss on Wednesday. He finished with four points and four rebounds, and the team will be hoping he can fill the enormous shoes left by Castleton.
It's an awful injury blow for Colin Castleton and the entire Florida Gators program, and the hope is that the 22-year-old Florida native will be back sooner rather than later for the team.
