Gators rally to beat Army in season opener
Trailing by a dozen points in its season opener Wednesday, Florida rallied with a 12-0 second-half run and held on for a 76-69 win against Army.
UF was led by sophomore Tre Mann, who scored a career-high 19 points as he took over at point guard for transfer Andrew Nembhard. Mann came through in the clutch with some late steals and five free throws in the final 40 seconds.
Neither team scored a field goal in the last two and a half minutes after a 69-69 tie, but the Gators pulled away at the charity stripe. They made 15 of their last 16 free throw attempts after starting 8-for-20.
"We looked a little more confident down the stretch and played with a little bit of moxie to do just enough," UF coach Mike White said after the game. "Obviously, it wasn't a great performance, but it was our first performance against another team and we were very much out of character in a lot of areas as compared to practice. That's why you play these games."
The Knights scored the game's first seven points and built a 27-15 lead behind three-pointers from Jalen Rucker and Lonnie Grayson, who scored a team-high 13. Florida pulled within four points on three possessions, but trialed 39-31 at the half.
Tyree Appleby gave the Gators their first lead, 43-42, five minutes into the second period. The Cleveland State transfer came off the bench to score 15 points after halftime and was one of four players making their UF debut, along with Colin Castleton, Anthony Duruji and Samson Ruzhentsev.
Foul trouble kept Keytonae Johnson off the floor, but he still finished with 16 points and made a key three-pointer after checking back into the game late. Florida finished off the Knights with a 9-0 run from the free-throw line after Grayson's trey put his team up 69-67 with 2:45 remaining.
"We were all excited and chomping at the bit to play against someone else and see where we are and evaluate," White said. "We can sit here and dwell on the negatives and the drama, but we were appreciative to be out there."
The Gators (1-0) will be back in action at Mohegan Sun on Thursday night against Boston College (1-2).