OGT-Auburn @ Florida 2/19/2022 2 pm

Florida (16-10/6-7 SEC) vs. #2 Auburn (24-2/12-1 SEC)
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151)
Gainesville, Fla. | Game 27 | Feb. 19, 2022 | 2 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes

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

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
1 CJ Felder F 6-7 231 Jr. 12.9 4.1 2.5 .412 3fg%
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 240 Sr. 28.8 15.5 9.2 2.7 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 175 Sr. 28.0 9.4 2.8 2.1 3fg
22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr. 27.2 10.1 2.2 3.8 ast
24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 26.1 10.3 4.1 1.4 stl

AUBURN POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
10 Jabari Smith F 6-10 220 Fr. 27.6 15.8 6.7 2.2 3fg
13 Walker Kessler F 7-1 245 So. 25.3 12.0 8.4 4.7 blk
0 K.D. Johnson G 6-0 204 So. 27.0 12.7 2.7 2.0 stl
12 Zep Jasper G 6-1 185 Sr. 22.8 4.7 1.3 2.3 ast
22 Allen Flanigan G 6-6 215 Jr. 24.9 7.3 3.4 1.6 ast

 

HEAD COACHES
Mike White
139-85 | 7th season at UF
240-125 | 11th season overall

Bruce Pearl
162-94 | 8th season at Auburn
624-259 | 27th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 81-90
All-Time/Home: 50-29
Series under White: 5-3
Home under White: 3-0
Last Meeting:
L, 73-85, 1/8/22 (Away)

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE​

2
Florida has two wins vs. AP #2-ranked opponents in program history. UF
topped Kansas in New York (11/29/02) and defeated Michigan State in
Atlantic City (11/27/09). The Gators have never beaten a top-2 opponent
on their home floor.

.543
Myreon Jones is shooting 19-for-35 from 3-point range over the last five
games.

15
Colin Castleton posted 15 points and 15 rebounds at Texas A&M, his second
15/15 game of the season (15/16 vs. FSU). He joins Marreese Speights,
Al Horford and Udonis Haslem as the only Gators with multiple 15/15 games since 1996

 

2021-22 AT A GLANCE

• Florida and Auburn meet for a second time this season, with Auburn taking the first meeting in January. The Gators are looking for their highest-ranked win on their home floor in program history, as all four of Florida’s top-2 wins have come on neutral courts. A win would also match Florida’s highest-ranked regular-season win of all-time, with UF’s two wins vs. #1 opponents both occurring in the NCAA Tournament.

• Over the past five games, Myreon Jones has hit on 19 of 35 attempts (.543) from 3-point range, including a 7-for-11 night in the win vs. Georgia.

• Colin Castleton has been productive since his Feb. 5 return to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury. He posted 15 points and 15 rebounds against Texas A&M, his second 15/15 game of the season. Castleton is the fourth Gator with multiple 15/15 games since 1996, joining Marreese Speights, Al Horford, and Udonis Haslem.

• Tyree Appleby sparked a trio of Florida comebacks in three consecutive games against Oklahoma State,
Missouri and Ole Miss. 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.

• 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, 5.5), scoring defense (third, 64.1) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (third, .303).

• 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, and the Gators forced the SEC’s leading
scorer Scotty Pippen Jr. into a 1-for-10 day with a season-low six points.

• 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 consist of grad transfers Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Charles-
ton Southern) along with Myreon Jones (Penn State) and CJ Felder (Boston College).

 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT​

• Potential #1 NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith leads Auburn with 15.8 points
per game, followed by K.D. Johnson (12.7), Wendell Green Jr. (12.7)
and Walker Kessler (12.0).

• Kessler leads the team in rebounding (8.4) and tops the nation in
blocked shots (123). Green leads AU with 132 assists, while Johnson
has posted 52 steals.

• The Tigers suffered their lone SEC loss at Arkansas but bounced back
with a pair of double-digit wins vs. Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 1 Alabama W 100-81
Feb. 5 at Georgia W 74-72
Feb. 8 at Arkansas L 76-80
Feb. 12 Texas A&M W 75-58
Feb. 16 Vanderbilt W 94-80

OPPONENT’S UPCOMING GAMES
Feb. 23 Ole Miss
Feb. 26 at Tennessee
March 2 at Mississippi State
March 5 South Carolina
March 9-13 SEC Tournament (Tampa)

SERIES UNDER WHITE (5-3)
Jan. 23, 2016 H W 95-63
Feb. 14, 2017 A W 114-95
Feb. 24, 2018 H W 72-66
Feb. 5, 2019 A L 62-76
March 16, 2019 SEC L 62-65
Jan. 18, 2020 H W 69-47
Feb. 23, 2021 A W 74-57
Jan. 8, 2022 A L 73-85

TOP-10 WINS UNDER WHITE (5)
Jan. 30, 2016 #9 West Virginia W 88-71
Feb. 4, 2017 #8 Kentucky W 88-66
March 15, 2019 vs. #9 LSU W 76-73
Jan. 18, 2020 #4 Auburn W 69-47
Jan. 19, 2021 #6 Tennessee W 75-49

UF’S ALL-TIME TOP-3 WINS (6)
Jan. 17, 1984 #3 Kentucky W 69-57
March 24, 2000 *vs. #1 Duke (at Syracuse) W 87-78
Nov. 29, 2002 vs. #2 Kansas (at NYC) W 83-73
March 6, 2005 #3 Kentucky W 53-52
April 2, 2007 *vs. Ohio State (at Atlanta) W 84-75
Nov. 27, 2009 vs. #2 Mich. St. (at Atl. City) W 77-74
*NCAA TournamenT