Florida @ Ole Miss 12/29/2021 5:00 PM SECN

Florida (9-3/0-0 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (8-4/0-0 SEC)
Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) | Oxford, Miss.
Game 13 | Dec. 29, 2021 | 5 p.m. ET

BROADCAST INFO
SEC Network | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Roy Philpott
Analyst: Mark Wise

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

 

HEAD COACHES
Mike White
132-78 | 7th season at UF
233-118 | 11th season overall

Kermit Davis
59-46 | 4th season at Ole Miss
462-284 | 24th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 68-47
All-Time/Away: 23-31
Series under White: 6-2
Away/under White: 1-2
Last Meeting:
W, 72-63, 1/12/21 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 220 Sr.* 24.3 9.1 4.2 1.2 stl
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 231 Sr.* 26.8 14.8 9.3 2.5 blk
22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr.* 27.2 10.0 2.1 3.1 ast
23 Brandon McKissic G 6-3 185 Gr. 27.6 7.3 3.2 1.8 stl
24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 23.9 11.8 3.6 3.2 ftm
*Eligible to apply for an additional season due to COVID-19.

OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Jaemyn Brakefield F 6-8 220 So. 23.9 8.8 4.3 .400 3fg%
3 Nysier Brooks C 7-0 245 Gr. 25.9 8.9 7.8 .614 fg%
11 Matthew Murrell G 6-4 200 So. 22.1 7.1 2.4 1.5 ast
15 Luis Rodriguez G 6-6 210 Jr. 24.8 7.3 4.6 1.5 stl
24 Jarkel Joiner G 6-1 180 Sr. 33.5 14.8 3.5 3.0 ast

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE

.643
Phlandrous Fleming has gotten hot from 3-point range, shooting 9-for-
14 over the last four games, including a 4-for-5 day against Stony Brook in
UF’s last game before the break.

37
Florida’s freshmen, sophomores, and juniors combined for a season-high
37 points in the Gators’ last outing vs. Stony Brook. Previously, that group’s
highest output had been 18 points vs. Troy.

84
Colin Castleton’s 84 blocked shots through 36 games at UF are tied with
John Egbunu for Florida’s program record for career blocks by an incoming transfer. Egbunu came from USF and played 58 games for the Gators
2015-1

 

2021-22 AT A GLANCE

• Florida visits Ole Miss to open Southeastern Conference action. The Gators and Rebels last met in the SEC
opener in the 2010-11 season, a 77-71 Florida win in Gainesville led by Erving Walker’s 20 points. The last time
the teams squared off in the league slate opener came in the 1989-90 campaign, a 75-60 loss for UF.

• Phlandrous Fleming Jr. posted his first 20-point performance as a Gator in UF’s win vs. Stony Brook, becoming
the third UF player to have a 20-point game this season, joining Myreon Jones (20 vs. Elon) and Colin Castleton (26 vs. North Florida). Fleming has been on fire from 3-point range, shooting 9-for-14 (.643) over the past
four games.

• UF’s 3-point defense has been elite in the Gators’ wins, limiting opponents to .244 shooting (35-for-143) from beyond the arc in those nine victories. Florida’s foes are averaging 3.9 made 3-pointers in those games, including four games with just two 3-pointers allowed.

• Florida is among the Southeastern Conference’s top three teams in blocked shots (second, 5.7), scoring defense (third, 59.9), 3-point field goal percentage defense (third, .287), and steals (third, 9.9).

• 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 the 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.

• 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​

• Ole Miss, now in its fourth season under Kermit Davis, owns wins vs.
Memphis and Dayton in nonconference play.

• Jarkel Joiner leads the way with 14.8 points per game, including a
team-high 22 made 3-pointers to go along with 36 assists.

• Freshman Daeshun Ruffi n suffered a broken hand in the Rebels’
opener and recently returned to action and is averaging 13.0 points
off the bench despite playing just 17.3 minutes per game.

• Seven-footer Nysier Brooks, a grad transfer from Miami (Fla.), leads
the team in rebounding (7.8), blocked shots (11), and is connecting at a
.614 clip from the field while averaging 8.9 points per game.

• Junior Luis Rodriguez returns as a starter, while sophomore Matthew
Murrell is seeing increased action moving into the lineup. Georgia
transfer Tye Fagan also joined Ole Miss this season.

• Florida associate head coach Al Pinkins coached on Davis’ Middle
Tennessee staff for eight seasons (2003-1

 

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Dec. 4 Memphis W 67-63
Dec. 11 vs. Western Kentucky L 48-71
Dec. 15 Middle Tennessee W 62-52
Dec. 18 Dayton W 76-68
Dec. 21 Samford L 73-75

OPPONENT’S NEXT 5 GAMES
Jan. 5 at Tennessee
Jan. 8 Mississippi State
Jan. 11 at Texas A&M
Jan. 15 Auburn
Jan. 18 Missouri

SERIES UNDER WHITE (6-2)
Jan. 16, 2016 A W 80-71
Feb. 9, 2016 H W 77-72
Jan. 3, 2017 H W 70-63
Jan. 13, 2018 A L 72-78
Jan. 30, 2019 H W/OT 90-86
Jan. 14, 2020 H W 71-55
Feb. 8, 2020 A L 51-68
Jan. 12, 2021 H W 72-6

 

SEC OPENERS UNDER WHITE (5-1)
Jan. 2, 2016 Georgia W 77-63
Dec. 29, 2016 at Arkansas W 81-72
Dec. 30, 2017 Vanderbilt W 81-74
Jan. 5, 2019 South Carolina L 69-71
Jan. 4, 2020 Alabama W/2OT 104-98
Dec. 30, 2020 at Vanderbilt W 91-72