Florida (17-10/7-7 SEC) vs. #18 Arkansas (21-6/10-4 SEC) Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) Gainesville, Fla. | Game 28 | Feb. 22, 2022 | 7 p.m. BROADCAST INFO ESPN2 | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Reporter: Marty Smith Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 209 Sr. 25.0 8.8 4.1 1.0 stl 2 Colin Castleton F 6-11 240 Sr. 29.1 15.7 9.1 2.7 blk 0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 175 Sr. 27.7 9.2 2.8 2.0 3fg 22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr. 27.4 10.7 2.1 3.7 ast 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 26.3 10.1 4.1 1.4 stl ARKANSAS POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 3 Trey Wade F 6-6 220 Gr. 16.3 3.7 2.4 .507 fg% 10 Jaylin Williams F 6-10 240 So. 31.0 10.3 9.6 1.3 blk 0 Stanley Umude G 6-6 210 Gr. 25.6 11.1 4.6 1.2 3fg 1 JD Notae G 6-2 190 Sr. 32.8 18.5 4.4 2.3 3fg 5 Au’Diese Toney G 6-6 205 Sr. 30.8 10.3 5.5 .526 fg%
HEAD COACHES Mike White 140-85 | 7th season at UF 241-125 | 11th season overall Eric Musselman 66-25 | 3rd season at Arkansas 176-59 | 7th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 26-13 All-Time/Home: 14-2 Series under White: 8-2 Home under White: 4-0 Last Meeting: L, 64-75, 2/16/21 (Away
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida and Arkansas meet for the only time this regular season, as the Gators look to defend their home court for a 15th straight time against the Razorbacks. • Tyree Appleby played Superman in Saturday’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 already 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 against Oklahoma State, his most as a Gator. 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. • Colin Castleton has been productive since his Feb. 5 return to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury, averaging 16.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in the five games since. He posted 19 points and eight rebounds in the win vs. Auburn and averaged 20.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in two match-ups vs. AU this season. • Over the past six games, Myreon Jones has hit on 20 of 39 attempts (.513) from 3-point range, including a 7-for-11 night in the win vs. Georgia. • The Gators are one of six teams with a win in each of the past four NCAA Tournaments, joined by Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan, Villanova and Florida State. UF is also one of 12 teams nationally and the only Southeastern Conference team to reach every NCAA Tournament in that span (since 2017). • UF ranks among SEC leaders in blocked shots (second, 5.4), scoring defense (third, 64.0), 3-point field goal percentage defense (fourth, .305) and steals (t-fourth, 8.6). • The Gators stifled Vanderbilt, 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. • Anthony Duruji scored 18 of his 22 points vs. Mississippi State in the second half, helping UF rally from seven points down with 7:20 to play. Duruji nabbed a career-high five steals vs. MSU, becoming the fifth Gator since 1996 (Donovan/White Era) to post a 22-point, five-steal outing. He joins Nick Calathes (twice), Corey Brewer (twice), Brett Nelson and Jason Williams (twice). • 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. • The Gators used a 13-0 second-half run to spark the win against 20th-ranked FSU, and Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors with a 15-point, 16-rebound, six-blocked shot performance. • The Gators’ quartet of veteran impact transfers combined for 3,882 career points scored at their previous schools. The groups consists of grad transfers Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Charles- ton Southern) along with Myreon Jones (Penn State) and CJ Felder (Boston College
NUMBERS OF NOTE 16.4 Colin Castleton has averaged 16.4 points in five games since returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for six games. 2 Florida looks for top-25 wins in back-to-back SEC games for the first time since beating #23 Vanderbilt and #10 Kentucky in Feb. 2010. UF last beat SEC teams ranked 18th or higher in back-to-back games in Feb. 2001, when the Gators won three straight against #15 Tennessee, #12 Ole Miss and #14 Alabama. 1 The Gators enter off back-to-back one-point games and have played three this month. UF had not played back-to-back one-point games since a pair of one-point losses to Ole Miss and Texas A&M in Feb. 2015, Billy Donovan’s final season at UF.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Arkansas enters with wins in 11 of its last 12 outings, the only loss by one point at Alabama. That stretch includes home wins vs. Auburn and Tennessee and a road win at LSU. • JD Notae leads the Razorbacks in scoring with 18.5 points per game, joined in double figures by Stanley Umude (11.1 ppg), Jaylin Williams (10.3) and Au’Diese Toney (10.3). • Notae also paces the team with 59 made 3-pointers, 61 steals and 89 assists, while Williams is grabbing a team-best 9.6 rebounds per game and has 34 blocked shots. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Feb. 5 Mississippi State W 63-55 Feb. 8 Auburn W/OT 80-76 Feb. 12 at Alabama L 67-68 Feb. 15 at Missouri W 76-54 Feb. 19 Tennessee W 58-48 OPPONENT’S UPCOMING GAMES Feb. 26 Kentucky March 2 LSU March 5 at Tennessee March 9-13 SEC Tournament (Tampa) SERIES UNDER WHITE (8-2) Feb. 3, 2016 H W 87-83 March 10, 2016 SEC W 68-61 Dec. 29, 2016 A W 81-72 March 1, 2017 H W 78-65 Jan. 17, 2018 H W 88-73 March 9, 2018 SEC L 72-80 Jan. 9, 2019 A W 57-51 March 14, 2019 SEC W 66-50 Feb. 18, 2020 H W 73-59 Feb. 16, 2021 A L 64-75
Thank you Gator Growl Another huge challenge. Arkansas beat UT at home and is on a run. I don't have to remind anyone that a win tonight would put UF in excellent position for moving off the bubble provided decent outings against Vandy and UGA. Not that they are gimmies but UF has been playing much better of late. I suspect the team is starting to see the finish line and understands the importance of each game. Good luck players, coaches and fans headed to the contest.
All must wins at this point unless we go 3-0 until Kentucky, then that one likely becomes just nice to win. We need to start strong!
Arkansas held Tennessee to 29% shooting (Arkansas was 30%) and 48 points. Going to be a defensive battle for sure.
The few times I've watched Arkansas, Notae is the key. He is a volume shooter and when he is on, they are tough to beat.
His is bizarre. It’s not that we are out that gets me, it’s that we are the 8th team out. We have moved further down since beating Auburn. Who had a more impressive weekend than us that we moved down several spots? Head scratching. Oh well, we know we need to win tonight regardless of what he says.
Very good player, but only shoots 32% from 3 while launching 7 a game. We just can’t let this be his 5-7 from 3 game.
I am expecting my standard game tonight. I will go in cautiously optimistic (well, we could begin the game with 10 straight treys). That optimism usually gets dashed quite quickly. Eventually, I give up all hope. But I stick with it to watch our comeback with dour pessimism. It is the worst if we retake the lead. I am then on pins and needles fhe rest of the game, waiting the entire time for the stupid play that will squash our chances (foul a three point shooter, anyone?). If we win, I slump down into my chair, relieved more than happy. But within the hour I convince myself that we have turned the corner and are a force to be reckoned with. If we lose, I slump down into my chair and silently grouse. Either way, I check the schedule for the next game and gradually become cautiously optimistic again. This team takes a toll on a fan.
