Castleton impressive as No. 24 Gators roll

NO. 24 FLORIDA 81, WIS.-MILWAUKEE 45

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nearly two dozen NBA teams were on hand to watch projected lottery pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. face No. 24 Florida on his 19th birthday. They surely had to come away impressed with Colin Castleton.

Castleton had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, and the Gators dominated Wis.-Milwaukee 81-45 on Thursday in their first game as a ranked team in nine months. Florida looked the part. So did Baldwin.

The Gators (3-0) issued 39 credentials spanning 22 NBA teams, all of them on hand to see Milwaukee’s freshman star. The 6-9 guard had 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting. He added 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. He also had three turnovers in 34 minutes.

Baldwin, who landed at Milwaukee (1-2) mostly because his dad is the head coach, was as smooth as advertised. “PBJ” handles the ball, has the size to make hard passes look easy, breaks down defenders in a variety of ways and has NBA range despite missing all three 3-pointers.

“He had some open looks. He has to knock them down. He needs to be aggressive,” Coach Pat Baldwin Sr. said. “If he has an advantage, he needs to attack and be decisive in those decisions. We need to get him better. I need to help him get some easier looks.”

Castleton led four Florida players in double figures. Tyree Appleby (Jacksonville) had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Phlandrous Fleming and Anthony Duruji added 12 points each.

NO. 3 KANSAS 88, STONY BROOK 59

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Ochai Agbaji scored 25 points to continue his torrid start to the season, David McCormack added 12 points and eight rebounds and Kansas pulled away from Stony Brook.

Christian Braun and Zach Clemence added 11 points apiece for the Jayhawks (3-0), who only led by six at halftime before heating up from beyond the arc.

Tykei Greene had 11 points and nine rebounds to lead the Seawolves (0-2).

XAVIER 71, NO. 19 OHIO STATE 65

CINCINNATI — Jack Nunge had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Paul Scruggs also scored 14 points and Xavier led wire to wire in knocking off No. 19 Ohio State.

Jamari Wheeler hit a three-pointer to get Ohio State within two points with 17 seconds left, the closest the Buckeyes had been all evening.

A pair of free throws by Scruggs pushed the Xavier lead back to four. Scruggs then stole Ohio State’s inbounds pass and sank two more free throws to ice the game for the Musketeers (3-0).

E.J. Liddell had a season-low 17 points for the Buckeyes (3-1). Meechie Johnson Jr. had 14 points and Kyle Young scored 12.

NO. 22 ST. BONAVENTURE 67, BOISE STATE 61

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Kyle Lofton had 17 points and seven assists, Jaren Holmes added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 22 St. Bonaventure beat Boise State in the Charleston Classic.

St. Bonaventure trailed 59-57 with 5:40 remaining after Boise State guard Marcus Shaver Jr. hit a three-pointer. But the Bonnies locked down defensively and held Boise State to 1-for-9 shooting after that. The Bonnies made five consecutive shots to build a 65-61 lead.

Welch led the late defensive effort for St. Bonaventure, helping keep Boise State’s leading scorer Emmanuel Akot scoreless for the final seven minutes.

Welch had 12 points and seven boards for St. Bonaventure (3-0). Osun Osunniyi had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Akot finished with a career-high 24 points, including 6 of 9 three-pointers, for Boise State (1-2).