Florida (19-12/9-9 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (20-11/9-9 SEC) Amalie Arena (21,500) | Tampa, Fla. SEC Tournament | Game 32 | March 10, 2022 | Noon BROADCAST INFO SEC Network | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Reporter: Marty Smith Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
HEAD COACHES Mike White 142-87 | 7th season at UF 243-127 | 11th season overall Buzz Williams 44-35 | 3rd season at Texas A&M 297-190 | 15th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time in SEC Tournament: 46-51 SEC Tournament under White: 4-5 All-Time vs. TAMU: 9-5 SEC Tournament vs. TAMU: 0-1 vs. TAMU under White: 4-3
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Anthony Duruji F 6-7 209 Sr. 25.0 8.8 4.2 1.0 stl 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 240 Sr. 30.0 16.4 9.1 2.4 blk 0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 175 Sr. 27.9 9.0 2.7 2.0 3fg 22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr. 27.8 11.2 2.0 3.7 ast 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 27.1 10.7 4.3 1.4 stl TEXAS A&M POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 15 Henry Coleman III F 6-8 243 So. 26.5 10.7 6.2 1.3 stl 3 Quenton Jackson G 6-5 173 Gr. 25.0 14.5 3.4 1.6 stl 4 Wade Taylor IV G 6-0 186 Fr. 16.3 8.1 1.6 2.3 ast 23 Tyrece Radford G 6-2 200 Jr. 29.4 10.5 5.7 1.4 ast 35 Manny Obaseki G 6-4 189 Fr. 10.3 2.9 1.4 0.6 as
NUMBERS OF NOTE 4 Mike White, along with John Calipari, Rick Barnes and Bruce Pearl, are the four active SEC head coaches whose winning percentage in conference games rates in the SEC’s all-time top 20. 8 Florida faced eight ranked opponents in conference play, the most in program history. The previous high was seven, set in 2018-19 and 1999-2000. All eight of those foes ranked in the top 18 at the time of the contest. 115 Colin Castleton’s 115 blocked shots for the Gators tie Alex Tyus for 10th in program history. Castleton is on UF’s top-10 list after just 49 games, while every other player on the list played at least 108 games for the Gators
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida takes on Texas A&M to open SEC Tournament action looking to avenge a one-point loss in College Station earlier this season. Colin Castleton posted 15 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting. • This marks the third SEC Tournament staged in the state of Florida, with Orlando hosting in 1990 and Tampa in 2009. • All-SEC forward Colin Castleton has been productive since his Feb. 5 return to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury, averaging 18.1 points and 9.2 rebounds in the nine games since. He posted 19 points and eight rebounds in the win vs. #2 Auburn and went for a career-high 29 vs. Arkansas. Castleton has also broken into the Gators’ career top-10 in blocked shots (115) despite just 49 appearances for the Orange and Blue. • Phlandrous Fleming Jr. came up big in the Gators’ last two regular-season wins. He posted 27 points in his hometown of Athens, Ga., shooting 11-for-18 from the field and 4-for-9 from 3-point range. • Fleming’s encore at Vanderbilt helped Florida to a dramatic comeback win after UF trailed by nine with 8:58 to play and by five with 44 seconds left. Fleming’s chase-down block with 29 seconds kept the door cracked for the Gators, and his 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left put the Gators on top for good. • Tyree Appleby had a strong finish for the Gators, averaging 16.8 points per game and shooting 17-for-38 from 3-point range (.447) over the final five regular-season games. • 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, 5.2), scoring defense (third, 65.6) and 3-point field goals made (tied-fourth, 8.1). • Tyree Appleby played Superman in UF’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 also 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 to help UF come back from 16 down against Oklahoma State. 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 stifled Vanderbilt in the teams’ first meeting, 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. • 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.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT • Texas A&M enters the SEC Tournament on a four-game winning streak with wins in five of its last six games. • The Aggies are led by All-SEC honoree Quenton Jackson, who averages 14.5 points per game and paced the team with 38 made 3-pointers and 51 steals. • Henry Coleman III (10.7 ppg) and Tyrece Radford (10.5) also average double-figure scoring and Coleman also leads the team in rebounding (6.2). • Ethan Henderson has a team-best 22 blocked shots and shoots .635 from the field, while Marcus Williams has dished 93 assists. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Feb. 19 at Vanderbilt L 67-72 Feb. 22 Georgia W 91-77 Feb. 26 at Ole Miss W 76-66 March 2 at Alabama W 87-71 March 5 Mississippi State W 67-64 ALL-TIME SERIES (9-5) Jan. 2, 1992 H W 73-46 Dec. 22, 1992 A L/OT 54-57 Dec. 17, 2011 N W 84-64 Jan. 17, 2013 A W 68-47 Feb. 1, 2014 H W 69-36 Feb. 14, 2015 A L 62-63 March 3, 2015 H W 66-62 Jan. 12, 2016 A L 68-71 March 11, 2016 SEC L 66-72 Feb. 11, 2017 H W 71-62 Jan. 2, 2018 A W 83-66 Jan. 22, 2019 H W 81-72 Feb. 12, 2020 A W 78-61 Feb. 15, 202 A L 55-56 SEC TOURNAMENT UNDER WHITE (4-5) March 10, 2016 vs. Arkansas (Nashville) W 68-61 March 11, 2016 vs. Texas A&M (Nashville) L 66-72 March 10, 2017 vs. Vanderbilt (Nashville) L/OT 62-72 March 9, 2018 vs. Arkansas (St. Louis) L 72-80 March 14, 2019 vs. Arkansas (Nashville) W 66-50 March 15, 2019 vs. LSU (Nashville) W 76-73 March 16, 2019 vs. Auburn (Nashville) L 62-65 March 11, 2021 vs. Vanderbilt (Nashville) W 69-63 March 12, 2021 vs. Tennessee (Nashville) L 66-78
Castleton happy for All-SEC selection, disagrees he didn’t make first-team Castleton happy for All-SEC selection, disagrees he didn’t make first-team Florida Gators fans know how important senior big man Colin Castleton is to the Florida basketball squad. Castleton does everything for the Gators and so getting All-SEC honors was deserved and expected. But don’t blame Castleton if he feels a little snubbed for not being on the first team when the awards came out on Tuesday. Castleton scored 15.4 points per game which was good for eighth in the SEC this year. He scored at a 54.3-percent rate, which was good for fourth. He averaged 2.4 blocks per game which was second in the league. He also pulled down 9.1 rebounds per game which was good for second. There may not be a more disliked player in the SEV this year because of the emotion that he plays with. But that emotion was wrapped around a ton of production outside of several games he missed because of injury.
Missing this because I promised to take my staff to a fancy lunch they deserve, which I scheduled before I realized this would be a stinkin noon game! Here's hoping there will be a Gator game to skip work for on Friday.
Yet Miss State and Carolina get the evening game ! There will be a sparse crowd for UF . Embarrassing really! Anytime this conference gets to screw UF they will . How can u not give UF the evening game !
Florida is in the #1 SEC seed's bracket. If Florida could somehow get by Texas A&M then the Gators will be in prime position to steal Auburn's lunch money, again, lol! The game happens to be at noon, too.
Bubble teams are losing. WF lost and so did Xavier. We need this one! An elimination game for sure! How can you not love getting to play a team that just won a nail biter that you gifted them! Revenge is going to be sweet!!!!! FEED ME THE AGGIES!!!!!!!!
