When Saturday began, the Gators’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament seemed bleak. They were ranked in the 50s in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, and they were just 1-7 in Quadrant 1 games.
They faced the likelihood of having to beat either No. 2 Auburn or No. 4 Kentucky and win their other three games just to be considered for an at-large bid.
The Gators entered the first game of that gauntlet as massive underdogs against Auburn on Saturday at the O’Connell Center. The Tigers are considered a national championship contender, and they have the likely No. 1 overall pick on their roster in forward Jabari Smith. The Tigers won the first meeting this season by 12 points.
Well, the Gators shocked pretty much everyone. They defeated Auburn 63-62 to spark a court-storming celebration by the student section that will draw a fine from the SEC this week.
Having a far greater chance of playing in the tournament will be worth every penny of it.
Auburn (24-3, 12-2 SEC) was the highest-ranked opponent that the Gators have ever defeated at home, and it tied for the highest-ranked regular season win in school history at any location.
“This is a resilient group,” UF coach Mike White said. “Now, if we don’t find a way to hold on to this one, it’d have been even harder to bounce back, of course. Didn’t finish it strong; we didn’t. That said, what an incredible, physical, intensity-level effort for 40 minutes led by Colin [Castleton] and Tyree [Appleby]. Auburn has a chance to win the whole thing, and we just beat them. So, great win for us obviously.”
This game was a defensive slugfest for most of the day, as Auburn shot just 40 percent and the Gators just 37 percent. The Gators also forced 17 turnovers. While they only converted those turnovers into nine points, they kept Auburn’s scoring output low enough to keep themselves within striking distance.
Despite Florida (17-10, 7-7) putting their best foot forward on the defensive end, it looked like Auburn would simply be too talented for them to hang with for all 40 minutes. The Tigers led by nine with 15 minutes to go in the game and by eight with just under 11 minutes to go. Every time the Gators scored a couple of baskets in a row to cut into the lead, Auburn would go on a spurt of their own to stretch the lead out again.
“In the huddle, we just preach to stay in the moment because we knew how loud the crowd was going to get today,” Appleby said. “There was going to be some adversity. They were going to go on a run; then we were going to go on a run. Every huddle, we just told ourselves to stay the course and stay in the moment, don’t overthink things and make simple plays.”
Eventually, the floodgates opened for the Gators. They went on a 25-9 run over a span of about nine minutes to not only take the lead but take a commanding 61-53 lead with 2:16 remaining.
Appleby did most of the damage during this stretch, scoring 15 points on a trio of made threes.
Phlandrous Fleming knocked down a big three-pointer that gave the Gators their first lead. Brandon McKissic also buried a three as part of a 7-for-13 performance as a team from beyond the arc in the second half.
Appleby’s final three gave the Gators that commanding eight-point cushion late, but the game was far from over at that point.
Tigers guard K.D. Johnson made a pair of free throws, and Fleming missed one of his two at the other end. For the second game in a row, the Gators committed the cardinal sin of playing defense by fouling a three-point shooter. Smith made all three of his free throws to cut the lead to 62-58 with 1:30 to go.
Johnson then stole the ball away from McKissic and made a layup to make it a one-possession game.
After Castleton made one of two free throws, the teams traded empty possessions. Fleming then fouled Johnson, who made both free throws to make it 63-62 with 23 seconds left.
Fleming turned it over out of a timeout with nine seconds to go, and it felt like the Gators were about to find yet another way to lose a game that was within their grasp.
“Coach White got on us [late in the game],” Castleton said. “He got pretty mad because we were just making careless plays. We weren’t being ourselves. I know I turned the ball over off a rebound when I should have outleted it. He told us to play the way we are supposed to and stop going backwards, making negative plays.
“That’s what [Auburn] wants. They want you to make careless plays and be careless with the ball. We just said for everybody to lock in and do what we are supposed to do. We did that down the stretch, which put us in a really good spot, and we won the game.”
They did so by bowing up on defense and not even allowing Auburn to get off a shot attempt on the final possession. The raucous celebration started on the court just seconds thereafter.
“When the ball was thrown in, I thought we were in stance,” White said. “I thought we were locked in. We communicated. Colin yelled under, we got under, high flat ball screen. We swarmed the ball. They set a middle ball screen for Wendell [Green], who is one of the better playmakers in our league and got a stop when we needed it. It was a little bit fitting for us to win it the hard way. Maybe that helps us take the next step, helps us even more.”
Appleby finished with 26 points (20 in the second half) on 5-for-10 shooting from deep, while Castleton had 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Smith turned in a monster game for the Tigers with 28 points on 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc and seven rebounds. Johnson (12 points) and Walker Kessler (11) also finished in double figures.
The Gators aren’t a lock to make the NCAA Tournament field just because they beat the No. 2 team in the country. They still have work to do, and losing at home to Arkansas on Tuesday night would undo much of what they accomplished on Saturday.
But there’s no denying that they’re in a much better spot than they were when the day began. And that is something worth celebrating.
“Hopefully, it gives our guys some added confidence down the stretch, more reason to continue to stay the course and do a lot of the things we are doing on a daily basis for growth,” White said. “For our fans, we are very appreciative. The place was rocking from the tip. From the tip, it was electric in there. Without that, we may have been a point short, or five or 10. They were a factor for sure.
“We forced 17 turnovers. That’s not happening without that environment, so appreciative of our fans, led by our student section. They were incredible, and [I’m] happy for them that they got to have that moment postgame. It was pretty special.”