Florida (20-13/9-9 SEC) vs. Xavier (19-13/8-11 Big East) Cintas Center (10,224) | Cincinnati, Ohio National Invitation Tournament | Game 34 | March 20, 2022 | 1 p.m. HEAD COACHES Al Pinkins 1-0 | Interim Head Coach Jonas Hayes 0-0 | Interim Head Coach MATCHUP BASICS All-Time in NIT: 13-12 All-Time vs. Xavier: 2-2 All-Time vs. current Big East: 22-20 Last Meeting: W, 70-65, 11/24/19 (Charleston) BROADCAST INFO ESPN | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan Analyst: Tim Welsh Gators Sports Network Play-by-Play: Mick Hubert Analyst: Lee Humphrey
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 240 Sr. 30.5 16.4 9.1 2.3 blk 14 Kowacie Reeves G 6-6 182 Fr. 15.2 5.2 1.5 1.0 3fg 22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr. 27.6 10.9 2.1 3.7 ast 23 Brandon McKissic G 6-3 185 Gr. 24.2 5.9 2.5 1.8 ast 24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 27.4 11.2 4.3 1.5 stl OPPONENT POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 24 Jack Nunge F 7-0 245 Jr. 26.7 13.4 7.4 1.4 blk 32 Zach Freemantle F 6-9 220 Jr. 28.3 10.1 5.6 1.3 ast 1 Paul Scruggs G 6-5 198 Sr. 32.1 12.0 4.2 4.1 ast 3 Colby Jones G 6-6 207 So. 33.1 11.1 7.5 1.5 stl 10 Nate Johnson G 6-4 192 Sr. 27.2 10.1 2.5 2.2 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE17.5 Freshman Kowacie Reeves has averaged 17.5 points in the Gators’ two postseason tournament games, scoring 21 vs. Texas A&M and 14 against Iona. Reeves has grabbed a personal-best six rebounds in each game, also. 13 Florida used its 13th different starting lineup of the season in Wednesday’s first-round win vs.Iona, starting four guards and Colin Castleton as Anthony Duruji (ankle) and CJ Felder (hip) were both sidelined with injuries. 450 Despite missing six games with a shoulder injury, Colin Castleton has scored 443 points this season and looks to become the fifth transfer in UF history to reach 450 in a single season. Previously, Dorian Finney-Smith (530), Jalen Hudson (528), Egor Koulechov (468), and Mike Rosario (450) have done so.
2021-22 AT A GLANCE • Florida looks to keep its postseason run going following Wednesday’s win vs. Iona, led by 18 points each from Colin Castleton and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. and 14 apiece from Tyree Appleby and Kowacie Reeves. Castleton added 13 boards for his 10th double-double of the season. • It marked the first head coaching game and win of interim head coach Al Pinkins’ career. Pinkins has been associate head coach at Florida since 2018. • Florida and Xavier last met in the 2019 Charleston Classic championship game, a 70-65 Florida win, and both teams will be in the field of Nov. 2022’s Phil Knight Legacy event in Portland. Keyontae Johnson scored 15 points in that Charleston Classic championship game victory and brought home tournament MVP honors. • 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 over the final nine regular-season games. 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 reached the Gators’ career top-10 in blocked shots (116). • 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 regular-season 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. • Following the SEC Tournament, UF ranked among SEC leaders in blocked shots (second, 5.2), scoring defense (fourth, 66.1) and free throw percentage (fourth, .735). • 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 • Xavier is led by fourth-year head coach Travis Steele. The Musketeers got off to an 11-1 start to the season with wins vs. Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Cincinnati in non-conference action. Their Big East slate was highlighted by wins at Creighton and vs. UConn. • Jack Nunge leads the team with 13.4 points per game, followed by Paul Scruggs (12.0), Colby Jones (11.1), Nate Johnson (10.1) and Zach Freemantle (10.1). Scruggs scored 24 the last time Florida and Xavier met, in the 2019 Charleston Classic championship game. • Nunge also paces the team in field goal percentage (.537) and blocked shots (45). Jones leads with 7.5 rebounds per game, and Scruggs was team-bests 131 assists and 49 steals. • Johnson has hit a team-high 61 3-pointers at a .386 clip. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES Feb. 26 Seton Hall L 66-82 March 2 at St. John’s L 66-82 March 5 Georgetown W 97-75 March 9 vs. Butler L/OT 82-89 March 15 Cleveland State W 72-68 ALL-TIME SERIES (2-2) Dec. 28, 1959 N L 74-86 Feb. 13, 2010 H L 64-76 Dec. 31, 2010 A W 71-67 Nov. 24, 2019 N W 70-65 ALL-TIME NIT RESULTS (14-12) March 13, 1969 vs. Temple L 66-82 March 14, 1984 vs. South Alabama L 87-88 March 14, 1985 at SW Louisiana L 64-65 March 13, 1986 Southern Miss W 81-71 March 17, 1986 TCU W 77-75 March 20, 1986 SW Missouri State W 54-53 March 24, 1986 vs. Wyoming L 58-67 March 26, 1986 vs. Louisiana Tech L 62-67 March 19, 1992 Richmond W 66-52 March 23, 1992 at Pittsburgh W 77-74 March 25, 1992 vs. Purdue W 74-67 March 30, 1992 vs. Virginia L 56-62 April 1, 1992 vs. Utah L 78-81 March 17, 1993 at Minnesota L 66-74 March 11, 1998 Georgetown L 69-71 March 19, 2008 San Diego State W 73-49 March 21, 2008 Creighton W 82-54 March 25, 2008 at Arizona State W 70-57 April 1, 2008 vs. UMass L 66-78 March 18, 2009 Jacksonville W 84-62 March 20, 2009 Miami W 74-60 March 24, 2009 Penn State L 62-71 March 15, 2016 at North Florida W 97-68 March 20, 2016 at Ohio State W 74-66 March 23, 2016 at George Washington L 77-82 March 16, 2022 Iona W 79-74
How to watch Florida Gators vs. Xavier Musketeers in NIT second round The Gators' first 2022 NIT game was a battle between one first-time-ever coach (Al Pinkins) and one of basketball's most experienced (Iona's Rick Pitino). The second round features two coaches in the same position. Pinkins and the Gators (20-13) take on Xavier, who announced it was parting ways with its head coach, Travis Steele, on Wednesday, following the Musketeers' 72-68 win over Cleveland State in the NIT first round. Xavier (19-13) is coached on an interim basis by associate head coach Jonas Hayes. Pinkins became Florida's interim coach Sunday when Georgia hired Gators head coach Mike White away.
Second round scheduleNo. 1 Texas A&M vs. Oregon — Saturday, March 19th — Noon ET — ESPN No. 3 VCU vs. No. 2 Wake Forest — Saturday, March 19th — 4:00 p.m. ET — ESPN+ Northern Iowa vs. No. 2 BYU — Saturday, March 19th — 9:00 p.m. ET — ESPN+ No. 3 Florida vs. No. 2 Xavier — Sunday, March 20th — 1:00 p.m. ET — ESPN No. 1 Dayton vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt — Sunday, March 20th — 3:00 p.m. ET — ESPN2 No. 1 SMU vs. No. 4 Washington State — Sunday, March 20th — 3:00 p.m. ET — ESPN+ Virginia vs. No. 2 North Texas — Sunday, March 20th — 6:00 p.m. ET — ESPN+ No. 1 Oklahoma vs. St. Bonaventure — Sunday, March 20th — 8:00 p.m. ET — ESPNU
XU has been a mess recently. Hopefully they won't get a bounce from losing their coach but rather the opposite. They had a player leave the court during Tuesday's 1st round game. Coach gone the next DAY after the NIT win. WTF Takeaways: Xavier escapes with 72-68 win over Cleveland State in NIT
I imagine Coach Golden will be at the game. Is there seriously any opportunity for a senior to return next year?
Dang, the game seems to be sold out. I can’t find a ticket on any of the usual sources. I guess there must be a lot of Gator fans in Cincinnati.
One thing I find a little odd about Xavier, is that for a BBall school, they have never made a final four. I guess we'll have to deal with just being a football school
