Next up for Florida: vs #7 Kentucky, Saturday, 2 p.m., CBS
Notable
* Florida finished on a 9-0 run to pick up the road win in Nashville, 82-78, as Phlandrous Fleming’s 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left put the Gators ahead, 80-78. Fleming also had a chase-down block with 29 seconds left that kept the door open for the Gators. Fleming finished with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds.
* Florida trailed by nine points with 8:58 to play, but the Gators posted their seventh win this season after trailing by nine or more.
* The Gators have won four straight road games at Vanderbilt for the first time in program history (21-48 in 69 total games at Vanderbilt).
* With their ninth win in SEC play, the Gators remain the only SEC team and one of nine power conference teams without a losing season in conference action over the past seven seasons.
* Colin Castleton posted a team-leading 19 points and eight rebounds, and his lone assist was on Fleming’s go-ahead 3-pointer.
* Castleton blocked two shots to give him 116 at Florida and enter UF’s all-time top-10, surpassing Alex Tyus (115) for 10th in the list.
* Tyree Appleby added 12 points and shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Over the last four games, Appleby is averaging 19.5 points and shooting .485 (16-for-33) from 3-point range.
* Tyree Appleby also recorded his 195th assist as a Gator, tying Dorian Finney-Smith for most by a Florida transfer.
* Appleby converted his second four-point play of the season (vs. Mississippi State) and third as a Gator.
* Florida weathered a 15-0 second-half run by Vanderbilt and 15-for-29 night from 3-point range by the Commodores.
Head Coach Mike White
On the resilience of the team in the last minute of the game…
“Incredible. You don’t see it very often. I’ve never been a part of a game where the opposing team does that much damage offensively, late clock. I thought Vanderbilt was terrific and really deserved to win the game. Fifteen threes, the way they executed, the way they made us pay after defending for lengthy periods of time… But, credit my guys. What a resilient group, what a tough group, and incredible adversity throughout the game. We’re down late and they continued to fight. Outside of the foul late sending [Scotty] Pippen to the line, I thought our defense was desperate and obviously, need-be execution down the stretch was terrific. Tuon [Gatkek] was great on the ball. I thought our guys were locked in with switching and denying some. Of course, I thought Phlan [Fleming] hit a huge shot off some good ball movement. The guys continue to share the ball. Our assist to turnover ratio continues to get better and our shot selection continues to get better. We’re in a good offensive rhythm and needed obviously every point because these guys are incredibly difficult to defend.”
On picking up 12 points from Tuongthach Gatkek and Niels Lane…
“On the road in this league, those are two high-energy guys. They play as hard as anyone on the team… To do it in the scoring column with six and six, it was a bit of a surprise. Sometimes, you need a couple of surprises to win on the road in this league. Vanderbilt is the most improved team in our league and this was a really good win for us.”
On where this win ranks for him…
“We had, I think it was two years ago, where we had a couple in one season. If I’m not mistaken, both at home against Alabama and Georgia where we were down [21] in one game and [22] in another…But, that many points that late, I’m not sure I’ve been a part of it. You feel like you stole one. You’re always talking about trying to steal one on the road and we really stole this one. Again, I thought Vanderbilt was fantastic and I’m just proud of my guys’ effort and resilience down the stretch.”
#24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr., Graduate Guard
On what was going on in his mind in the last 90 seconds…
“What was going on in our minds was we just need to get stops. We were scoring very effectively all night… We had a stretch in the second half when we weren’t and they were. So, we just had to get stops late. That’s all we were preaching in the huddles. We were just trying to get stops. They are amazing. They were taking some tough shots, making some tough ones, and they shot the ball really, really well at home. And late, we just had to try our best and get the stops.”
On his block and three to take the lead….
“They called the play ‘home run’ and I was wondering who was going to go get it. But, they threw it and I just tried to run as fast as I possibly could. I knew that was going to be a tough one to recover from, but the three was amazing. It was Colin’s unselfishness. Everybody in the gym knew where we were going with the ball, and they doubled him. He threw it right to me, trusted me with the ball, and I made the shot. It was all Colin.”
On how much it meant to him to step up in a moment like this…
“It means the world. We got two back-to-back road games… These road games are very, very difficult to win. The Vandy crowd was very into it tonight, so it was very difficult to win on the road. But, it feels amazing that I could come up and put those performances in, continue on with our momentum and be able to score the ball like we did today.”
On which he liked better: the block or the three-pointer…
“100 percent the block. Everybody in the gym thought he had it. I thought he was going to try and dunk it. My teammates even told me that they if they would have seen the picture, they didn’t think I was going to go and get it. So, the block definitely was the best part. I’m a defender first.”
