OGT-Kentucky @ Florida 3/5/2022 2:00 CBS

Florida (19-11/9-8 SEC) vs. #7/6 Kentucky (24-6/13-4 SEC)
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151)
Gainesville, Fla. | Game 31 | March 5, 2022 | 2 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO
CBS | CBS Sports App
Play-by-Play: Brad Nessler
Analyst: Clark Kellogg

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

 

HEAD COACHES
Mike White
142-86 | 7th season at UF
243-126 | 11th season overall

John Calipari
363-99 | 13th season at Kentucky
766-237 | 31st season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 42-106
All-Time/Home: 26-38
Series under White: 4-9
Home under White: 2-4
Last Meeting:
L, 57-78, 2/12/22 (Away

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
1 CJ Felder F 6-7 231 Jr. 12.5 3.6 2.4 0.7 blk
12 Colin Castleton F 6-11 240 Sr. 29.7 16.1 9.0 2.5 blk
0 Myreon Jones G 6-3 175 Sr. 27.9 9.1 2.7 2.0 3fg
22 Tyree Appleby G 6-1 163 Sr. 27.8 11.4 2.0 3.8 ast
24 Phlandrous Fleming Jr. G 6-5 205 Gr. 27.1 10.9 4.2 1.4 stl

KENTUCKY POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
12 Keion Brooks Jr. F 6-7 210 Jr. 24.9 11.2 4.6 .494 fg%
34 Oscar Tshiebwe F 6-9 255 Jr. 31.4 16.9 15.3 1.8 stl
2 Sahvir Wheeler G 5-9 180 Jr. 30.6 10.0 2.3 7.0 ast
10 Davion Mintz G 6-3 195 Gr. 24.8 8.7 2.2 1.5 3fg
31 Kellan Grady G 6-5 205 Gr. 33.1 11.9 2.1 2.8 3fg

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE​

4
Mike White and John Calipari, along with Rick Barnes and Bruce Pearl, are
the four active SEC coaches whose winning percentage in conference
games rates in the SEC’s top 20 all-time. Calipari sits in third (.770),
Barnes 16th (.597), White 18th (.585) and Pearl 19th (.577).

3
In addition to making the game-winning shot, Phlandrous Fleming Jr. stuffed the stat sheet at Vandy with 16 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals, and two blocked shots. He’s the first
Gator since 1996 to reach all those numbers in a single SEC game and the third to do so in any game, joined by Joakim Noah (3/16/06 vs. South Alabama) and Matt Walsh (11/21/02 vs. Eastern Illinois).
Florida (19-11/9-8 SEC) vs. #7/6 Kentucky (24-6/13-4 SEC) Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,151) Gainesville, Fla. | Game 31 | March 5, 2022 | 2 p.m.

 

2021-22 AT A GLANCE​

• Florida hosts Kentucky in the regular-season finale and Senior Day for seven Gators. UF is coming off a pair
of road wins at Georgia and Vanderbilt and has an opportunity to finish its regular season with a quality win
against the seventh-ranked Wildcats. The Gators are also battling for SEC Tournament seeding and will land
anywhere from #5 to #9 based on Saturday’s outcomes.

• Phlandrous Fleming Jr. has been huge in the Gators’ past two wins. He posted 27 points in his hometown
of Athens, Ga., last Saturday, shooting 11-for-18 from the field and 4-for-9 from 3-point range in the win at
Georgia.

• 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.

• Tyree Appleby has also had a hot hand for the Gators over the last four games, averaging 19.5 points per game going 16-for-33 from 3-point range (.485) in that span.

• 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, 65.4), free throw percentage (third, .737), and 3-point field goals made (fourth, 8.3).

• 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.

• Colin Castleton has been productive since his Feb. 5 return to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury, averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the eight games since. He posted 19 points and eight rebounds in the win vs. Auburn and went for a career-high 29 vs. Arkansas. Castleton also has 114 career blocked shots at UF, one away from joining the Gators’ career top 10 (Alex Tyus, 115).

• 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​

• Oscar Tshiebwe leads Kentucky with 16.9 points per game and leads
the nation with 15.3 rebounds per game. He also has a team-high 55
steals and 44 blocked shots.

• TyTy Washington (12.4 ppg), Kellan Grady (11.9), Keion Brooks Jr. (11.2)
and Sahvir Wheeler (10.0) all average double figures, as well.

• Wheeler leads the Wildcats with 182 assists, and Grady is the top
3-point threat with 84 made at a .433 clip.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
Feb. 15 at Tennessee L 63-76
Feb. 19 Alabama W 90-81
Feb. 23 LSU W 71-66
Feb. 26 at Arkansas L 73-75
March 1 Ole Miss W 83-72

SERIES UNDER WHITE (4-9)
Feb. 6, 2016 A L 61-80
March 1, 2016 H L 79-88
Feb. 4, 2017 H W 88-66
Feb. 25, 2017 A L 66-76
Jan. 20, 2018 A W 66-64
March 3, 2018 H W 80-67
Feb. 2, 2019 H L 54-65
March 9, 2019 A L 57-66
Feb. 22, 2020 A L 59-65
March 7, 2020 H L 70-71
Jan. 9, 2021 H L 58-76
Feb. 27, 2021 A W 71-67
Feb. 12, 2022 A L 57-78

TOP-10 WINS UNDER WHITE (6)
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
Feb. 19, 2022 #2 Auburn W 63-62