OGT-Arkansas @ Florida Feb 22 (Tue) 7 PM ESPN2

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