Florida vs. Iona Game Notes (NIT)
Florida (19-13/9-9 SEC) vs. Iona (25-7/17-3 MAAC) Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla. Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | 9 p.m. ESPN2 | Mike Morgan & Tim Welsh Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD | Mick Hubert & Lee Humphrey
2021-22 AT A GLANCE
• Florida competes in the National Invitation Tournament for the 11th time in program history and the first time since 2016. The Gators are hosting an NIT game for the first time since 2009, with the team’s 2016 run coming on the road due to O’Connell Center renovations.
• UF’s best NIT finish has been a semifinal appearance, which the Gators reached in 1986, 1992 and 2008.
• Florida will be led by interim head coach Al Pinkins, who steps in with the departure of Mike White. Pinkins has been associate head coach at Florida since 2018.
• All-SEC forward Colin Castleton has been productive since his Feb. 5 return to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury, averaging 18.1 points and 9.2 rebounds over the final nine regular season games. He posted 19 points and eight rebounds in the win vs. #2 Auburn and went for a career-high 29 vs. Arkansas. Castleton has also broken into the Gators’ career top-10 in blocked shots (116) despite just 50 career appearances at UF.
• Phlandrous Fleming Jr. came up big in the Gators’ last two regular season wins. He posted 27 points in his hometown of Athens, Ga., shooting 11-for-18 from the fi eld and 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
• Fleming’s encore at Vanderbilt helped Florida to a dramatic comeback win after UF trailed by nine with 8:58 to play and by five with 44 seconds left. Fleming’s chase-down block with 29 seconds kept the door cracked for the Gators, and his 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left put the Gators on top for good.
• Tyree Appleby had a strong regular season finish for the Gators, averaging 16.8 points per game and shooting 17-for-38 from 3-point range (.447) over the final five regular season games.
• UF ranks among SEC leaders in blocked shots (second, 5.2), scoring defense (fourth, 66.1) and free throw percentage (fourth, .735).
• Tyree Appleby played Superman in UF’s win against #2 Auburn, which was the Gators’ highest-ranked home win in program history and matched UF’s highest-ranked regular season victory. Appleby scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half, hitting four of his six 3-point attempts after the break.
• It was a familiar role for Appleby, who also sparked a trio of Florida comebacks in three consecutive games against Oklahoma State, Missouri and Ole Miss and had an early-season game-winning buzzer-beater against Ohio State. The point guard posted 21 points to help UF come back from 16 down against Oklahoma State. Appleby scored 17 points at Mizzou, all in the second half, including a pair of game-winning free throws with 7.9 seconds left. Against Ole Miss, Appleby recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
• The Gators stifled Vanderbilt in the teams’ first meeting, limiting the Commodores to 14 second-half points. Vandy’s 42 total points marked the second-fewest UF has allowed vs. an SEC opponent under Mike White (41 at SC, 2/10/18). No Commodore scored more than seven points against the UF defense.
• Florida battled back from a double-digit deficit to knock off Ohio State on Tyree Appleby’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Phlandrous Fleming led the Florida attack with 19 points and four steals, supported by Colin Castleton’s double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
116
Colin Castleton’s 116 blocked shots, #10 in Florida history, have come in 50 games. Every other player on UF’s top-10 career list for blocks played at least 108 games for the Gators.
13
Florida hosts an NIT game for the first time in 13 years. The Gators won 2009 first- and second-round games before falling in the quarterfinal. UF’s 2016 NIT run coincided with the O’Connell Center renovation, putting the Gators on the road for another quarterfinal run.
44
The Florida bench chipped in a season-high 44 points in the SEC Tournament game vs. Texas A&M, with Kowacie Reeves (21) and Niels Lane (16) both posting career-high scoring days.
