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University of Florida recently issued the following announcement.

The play — its timing, its design, its execution — was an absolute thing of beauty. 

Florida coach Mike White called it during a dead-ball timeout, figuring it would be available if Ohio State scored out of the stoppage. The Buckeyes, as it turned out, got one of two free throws from forward Zed Key to take a two-point lead with 47 seconds to go. 

Up the court walked UF's Tyree Appleby as the seconds ticked away. He didn't look like a guy who was under orders to go for a quick bucket and give his team a chance at a two-for-one (that was the plan) and the game's final possession. But once Appleby reached the front court, forward Colin Castleton took his defender to the free-throw line. There, Castleton snuck a screen against the Buckeye guarding Anthony Duruji, who broke down the left side of the lane and skied about two feet above the rim to grab a perfect lob from Appleby to thunder home a game-tying, rim-rattling SportsCenter Top 10-worthy dunk with 35 seconds left that sent the Suncoast Credit Arena crowd into a frenzy. 

It was the play of the game. 

And then it wasn't.

Appleby one-upped his laser-perfect pass by bombing a 30-foot, game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the No. 23 Gators an epic 71-68 victory Wednesday in the championship game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Appleby's shot followed a possession of tremendous defense by the Gators, who forced OSU star Eric Liddell to miss a bank from the low post. UF guard Myreon Jones gathered the tipped rebound, pitched the ball ahead to Appleby, who caught the pass just across mid-court, took one dribble, set his feet and gave Florida fans a memory — and victory — they'll be talking about for a long time. 

"It was like a movie, honestly," Appleby said about 20 minutes after being mobbed by his teammates and 10 minutes after posing for a group shot with the tournament championship trophy. "Once I hit it, I looked up and my teammates were right there on me. It was one of the best moments of my college career … of my life, actually." 

Pretty good one for White, too. From what he could recall. 

"We found a way to get a stop, get a rebound," he said. "The rest is kind of blur. It happened so quick." 

And it happened after Appleby had struggled with his shot throughout the game, missing eight of his nine field-goal attempts before launching the difference-maker. It happened on a night the Gators (5-0), in equaling their best start in the seven seasons under White, shot just 36.7 percent, including 4-for-14 from the 3-point line, compared to the Buckeyes (4-2), who shot 53.3 percent for the game, including 58.3 in a second half. OSU led by 10 with less than 13 minutes to go; by seven, with four and a half minutes remaining. 

From there, the Buckeyes hit just one of five field goals, managed three free throws and had a big turnover the rest of the way. 

"Our defense is our identity and that's what what won this game," said UF swingman Phlandrous Fleming Jr., the grad-transfer from Charleston Southern, who tallied 19 points on 5-for-11 shooting and went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. "When we got down by 10, we didn't shake or waver. We just kept going. When we were missing layups and their fans were getting into it, we didn't back down. We just kept playing." 

Senior forward Colin Castleton scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. The only other Gator in double figures was forward CJ Felder, who was terrific off the bench by pitching in 10 points and five rebounds. Florida's three perimeter starters — Appleby, Jones and Brandon McKissic — combined to make just six of their 25 shots and only three of 11 from deep. 

"Doesn't matter. It's the other end that matters to us," shrugged Jones, who along with his teammates forced OSU into 18 turnovers (converted to 19 points) and also busted the glass for 16 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points. "We don't need to make a bunch of shots to determine outcomes. We just need defense and staying together. That's all." 

Five times during the second half, Florida drew within two points, with Ohio State answering each time. The Buckeyes led 58-56 when Liddell, the 2020-21 All American who led all scorers with 23 points, hit a 3-pointer over Castleton to stretch the lead to five. After a stop at UF's end, Malaki Branham's layup made it 63-56 with 4:51 to go. The Buckeyes, who beat No. 21 Seton Hall on a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left two nights earlier, were in control. 

Then they weren't.

"I thought their pressure really bothered us," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. "I thought they were really physical, physical on the ball, physical on drives. Defensively we were able to bother them when we could get our defense set, but giving them open-floor opportunities or offensive rebound opportunities was the difference, really, in the game."

Down seven, Jones hit his lone 3-ball of the day and the Gators began chipping away and getting stops. Felder hit two free throws and put in a layup on a great drive-and-backward pass from Appleby after a steal. Felder's bucket tied the game for the first time in the second half, but Liddell's post-up and bank shot again pushed Ohio State ahead by two. 

Appleby sank two free throws for the tie, then UF's smothering halfcourt defense forced a shot-clock violation. At the Florida end, Castleton went to the line to shoot two free throws, something the Gators didn't do very well Wednesday (23 of 33). He missed the first, but canned the second and Florida, with 2:15 to go, had its first lead, 66-65, since the 2:35 mark of the first half. 

"Over the course of the game we had a lot of adversity," White said. "But we found a way."

Liddell drew a shooting foul on Duruji and knocked down both to put the Buckeyes back in front by one, 67-66, with 1:56 to go. Fleming's back-down, turn-around jumper with 1:30 to play was off and Key got fouled in the OSU half court with 47 seconds left. 

He made one of two, giving the Buckeyes a 68-66 edge. 

That's when Appleby made the play of the game. 

Twice. 

"I was right behind him when he shot it," Jones said. "It looked perfect. I knew it was going in." 

When the ball banged through the goal, the Florida bench emptied onto the floor and made a mad dash for Appleby, with Jones' enthusiastic shove inadvertently slamming the 6-foot-1, 163-pound playmaker into a table at the far end of the floor. He was fine. Moments later, the Gators, who trailed for all but 3:35 for the game and just 29 seconds of the second half, were donning championship hats and mugging with the trophy for a team photo after staring down one of biggest brutes of the Big Ten Conference and, ultimately, beating the Buckeyes at their own game. 

Kind of like what the Gators did to Florida State a couple weekends ago. 

It's a long season and much can still happen, but it's probably safe to assume that no team in the country showed as much grit as the Gators did on this Thanksgiving eve. Or won in such a thrilling fashion. 

"This group has really worked and has a great attitude," White said. "They deserve a moment like this."

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