Texas Southern @ #20 Florida Dec. 6, 2021 | 6 p.m. SEC Network+ | ESPN App

#14/12 Florida (6-1/0-0 SEC) vs. Texas Southern (0-7/0-0 SWAC)Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) | Gainesville, Fla.
Game 8 | Dec. 6, 2021 | 6 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network+ | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Kyle Crooks
Analyst: Mark Wise

Gators Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert
Analyst: Lee Humphrey

 

HEAD COACHES
Mike White
129-76 | 7th season at UF
230-116 | 11th season overall

Johnny Jones
57-46 | 4th season at TSU
352-280 | 21st season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 1-0
Under White: First Meeting
All-Time vs. SWAC: 26-0
vs. SWAC under White: First Meeting

Last Meeting:
W, 75-50, 12/12/14 (Hom

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
8
The Gators have faced a 10-point
deficit three times through seven
games (once vs. Ohio State, twice
at Oklahoma), and in each instance
Florida responded with an 8-0 run.
Mike White’s Florida teams have been
notably resilient over the years with
11 double-digit comeback victories,
including this season’s vs. Ohio State.

40
Tyree Appleby has made 40 of his last
41 free throw attempts dating back to
last season. He made his final 16 tries
of last season and has two streaks of
12 makes this season, split by his lone
miss in the stretch

500
Colin Castleton is one point shy of 500
for his career. He scored 99 points in
44 games at Michigan (2.3 ppg) and
has 400 in 31 games at Florida (12.9)

 

2021-22 AT A GLANCE
• Florida enters Monday’s game vs. Texas Southern looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season, a a challenging road contest at Oklahoma. The Gators won their only prior meeting with Texas Southern in Dec. 2014, and this marks UF’s first contest against a SWAC opponent since that game.

• UF’s defense has made its presence felt in the early going, limiting five of its first seven opponents to 61 points or fewer. The Gators have held two opponents to 45 points, the first time Florida has multiple opponents to 45 points or fewer in a season since 2014-15.

• Florida ranks among the SEC’s top three in 3-point percentage defense (second, .255), blocked shots (second, 6.0) and scoring defense (third, 58.3)

• 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 rode a strong late-first half performance to victory against Cal, outscoring the Bears 29-10 over the final 8:10 of the opening frame. Four Gators scored in double figures, led by Colin Castleton’s 16 and Tyree Appleby’s 15.

• 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.

• After playing with no seniors on their roster last season, the Gators have six senior or graduate players on the active roster this season.

• The Gators are one of six teams nationally with a win in each of the past four tournaments and the only Southeastern Conference team to reach every NCAA Tournament in that span (since 2017).

• The Gators added a quartet of veteran impact transfers who have a combined 3,882 career points scored at their previous schools. Florida’s 2021 class of incoming transfers rates in the nation’s top two in career points (Arkansas, 4,125 points, 6 players).

• Guards Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Charleston Southern) both bring conference defensive player of the year and first-team all-conference credentials to Gainesville as graduate transfers.

• The Gators also added a pair of undergrad transfers in senior guard Myreon Jones (Penn State) and junior forward CJ Felder (Boston College). Jones led the Nittany Lions in scoring last season with 15.3 points per game and averaged 2.4 3-pointers made, while Felder posted 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season.

• UF also brings in two freshmen guards in ESPN Top 100 prospect Kowacie Reeves (Macon, Ga.) and pure-shooting lefty Elijah Kennedy (Virginia Beach, Va.), along with junior college transfer Tuongthach Gatkek.

• The Gators will play at least 10 games against preseason AP top 25 opponents this season, including nonconference battles vs. Florida State, Ohio State, and Maryland.

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Texas Southern, led by former LSU head coach Johnny Jones, is in the
midst of its notoriously challenging non-conference schedule, which
has ranked among the top three hardest in all of Division I in four of
the past five years, including the toughest in the nation in 2017-18
and 2018-19. The Tigers won’t play their regular season home opener
until Jan. 8.

• Though TSU may show an underwhelming overall record due to its
an unrelenting non-conference schedule, the Tigers are among the
toughest teams in the SWAC. Over the past decade, Texas Southern
has earned the regular-season championship four times (2013, 2015,
2016 and 2017) and claimed the league’s NCAA Tournament bid five times
(2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021).

• John Walker III leads TSU with 12.6 points per game with Joirdan Karl
Nicholas adding 11.1 and a team-high eight steals.

• Brison Gresham leads the team in rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots
(seven), while PJ Henry paces the Tigers in assists (15) and 3-pointers
made (eight).

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Nov. 15 at Washington L 65-72
Nov. 17 at Air Force L 57-61
Nov. 21 at N.C. State L 57-65
Nov. 24 at BYU L 64-81
Dec. 1 at Louisiana Tech L 60-87

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Dec. 14 at UTRGV
Dec. 18 at Cincinnati
Dec. 29 at TCU
Jan. 3 at Southern
Jan. 5 at Grambling State

ALL-TIME SERIES
(1-0)Dec. 12, 2014 H W 75-50

 

ALL-TIME VS. SWAC (26-0)
Nov. 23, 1991 Florida A&M W 76-66
Nov. 25, 1996 Bethune-Cookman W 68-59
Nov. 23, 1998 Bethune-Cookman W 91-61
Dec. 4, 1999 Florida A&M W 96-44
Dec. 11, 1999 Bethune-Cookman W 93-77
Dec. 10, 2000 Florida A&M W 125-50
Dec. 19, 2000 Bethune-Cookman W 106-64
Dec. 28, 2002 Bethune-Cookman W 99-64
Dec. 30, 2002 Florida A&M W 91-58
Dec. 2, 2003 Florida A&M W 102-78
Nov. 30, 2004 Florida A&M W 88-51
Nov. 28, 2005 Alabama State W 87-60
Dec. 9, 2005 Bethune-Cookman W 88-58
Dec. 30, 2005 Florida A&M W 84-47
Nov. 21, 2006 Prairie View A&M W 94-33
Nov. 28, 2006 Southern W 83-27
Dec. 17, 2006 Florida A&M W 72-57
March 16, 2007 *vs. Jackson State W 112-69
Dec. 5, 2007 Florida A&M W 91-52
Dec. 2, 2008 Florida A&M W 73-58
Dec. 1, 2009 Florida A&M W 80-59
Nov. 11, 2011 Jackson State W 99-59
Dec. 19, 2011 Mississippi Valley State W 82-54
Nov. 11, 2012 Alabama State W 84-35
Nov. 18, 2013 Southern W 67-53
Dec. 12, 2014 Texas Southern W 75-50
*NCAA Tournamen