For a while, it looked like the Gators might finally win a game without all of the stress and late-game drama against Georgia on Wednesday night.
After coming from behind in the second half to win each of their previous three games, the Gators got off to a scorching hot start offensively and shot 54 percent in the first half. They led by 16 points with 6:38 to go before halftime.
Eventually, though, the Gators’ in-game inconsistencies reared their ugly head again. Georgia cut the lead to 38-30 at halftime and battled back from a 13-point deficit with six minutes remaining in the game. A 10-0 Bulldogs’ run made it a one-possession game at 64-61 with 2:56 to go.
However, as was the case in their last three games as well, the Gators made the winning plays down the stretch and held on for a 72-63 win over the last-place Bulldogs inside the O’Connell Center. The Gators (16-8, 6-5 SEC) are now above .500 in conference play for the first time this season.
“Obviously, there’s an intensity drop,” UF coach Mike White said. “‘Are we watching the scoreboard? Are you just hoping it ends? Are you mentally fatigued? Are you down about your last missed shot?’ A mental toughness that we’ve been talking about all year. I thought at times we played with a lot of edge. I thought we started with a lot of edge, with the right mental approach. We’ve got to be better finishing, of course. We’re fortunate.
“Georgia has a lot to do with that, though. I just thought defensively, at times, we looked tired, and their initial push, which we are going to see again on Saturday [at Kentucky], is elite off makes and misses. We had to get out of press because they were just pushing down our throat and playing in space with confidence and drawing fouls. If we pressed the whole game, we might have fouled them 50 times. They were great downhill. I just thought we looked tired defensively, and I thought that had a lot to do with Georgia’s offense.”
With their lead down to within three points for the first time since it was 10-8 early in the game, the Gators dumped the ball inside to center Colin Castleton out of a timeout. He caught the ball near the free throw line, turned and sank a jump shot to make it 66-61.
After the teams traded empty possessions, Phlandrous Fleming stole the ball away from Georgia point guard Aaron Cook.
The Gators then used up all of the shot clock before Tyree Appleby swished a step-back three-pointer from the right wing to make it 69-61 with 37 seconds left.
Braelen Bridges scored off of an offensive rebound on Georgia’s next possession, but Appleby made a pair of free throws to put the game away.
The Gators shot 46 percent for the game and limited the Bulldogs to 38 percent.
Florida wouldn’t have won this game without Myreon Jones’ hot shooting hand. He made a career-high seven threes on 11 attempts to finish with a UF career-high 23 points. He became the first Gator to make seven threes in a game since KeVaughn Allen and Noah Locke both did so against Texas A&M in 2019.
“If he doesn’t go 7-for-11 from three, I don’t think we win this game,” White said. “He was terrific, shot it with confidence. Guys did a good job. I thought Colin set a couple of really good screens for him. I thought we passed it well.”
After struggling mightily for the better part of two months, Jones has now made 14 of his last 23 shots from deep over the last three games. His average is now up to 34.6 percent for the season.
“It felt great,” Jones said. “It felt even better that my teammates were actually just looking for me, telling me ‘Run here, run there. I’ll look for you.’ I think that’s the best feeling as a shooter going in. The team isn’t getting jealous; they’re actually looking for me. I think that was the best part.”
Castleton also turned in a nice night in his second game back from injury. He fought off an apparent reaggravation of his left shoulder to score 13 points, grab nine rebounds and swat four shots.
Appleby bounced back from a scoreless first half to make three of his eight threes in the second half and finish with 11 points and three assists.
Kowacie Reeves scored eight points, including a huge offensive rebound that he converted into a dunk in the second half when Georgia (6-18, 1-10) was starting to gain some momentum.
“At this point of the season, I just keep tagging along, just keep looking for angles and stuff like that during the game,” Reeves said. “With the physicality at this level, it’s harder to get to the rim. So, I just hit my spots and tried to capitalize on the opportunities I get to the basket.
“Honestly, I just went to crash the basket because that’s what I’m supposed to do. We’ve got crash guys and floor balance, so I just went to crash, and the ball just so happened to find a way into my hands.”
Kario Oquendo led the Bulldogs with 22 points, eight rebounds and four steals in a game-high 37 minutes. Cook chipped in 14 points, and Bridges had 12 points and four rebounds.
For the fourth game in a row, the Gators didn’t make things easy on themselves. They had numerous chances to go on an extended run and put Georgia away, but they didn’t do it. Instead, they allowed the Bulldogs to hang around just long enough to go on a run of their own and keep the fans biting their fingernails until the final seconds ticked off of the clock.
The Gators’ living-on-the-edge style of play might not be very pleasing for the fans, but the Gators were happy to find yet another way to win a game.
“It was just the urgency,” Reeves said. “It felt good to keep that same urgency. Even when they were coming back, that feeling of not wanting to lose. We know that these SEC wins are hard to come by. Everyone is good no matter what their record is. So, it felt good.”