University of Florida Athletics recently issued the following announcement.
A quick breakdown of Wednesday's night win in the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship game.
AT THE BUZZER
No. 23 FLORIDA 71, OHIO STATE 68
WHAT HAPPENED: Fifth-year senior point guard Tyree Appleby hit a 30-foot 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the 23rd-ranked Gators a pulsating come-from-behind victory over
the Buckeyes in the championship game of the Fort Myer's Tip-Off at Suncoast Credit Arena. Before his dynamic, game-winning launch, Appleby had made just one of his nine
shots for the game and his team had led only twice over the 40 minutes. But after Ohio State forward Eric Liddell, in a low-post battle with UF's Anthony Duruji, missed a baseline
bank with the shot clock winding down, UF guard Myreon Jones rebounded with six seconds left, pitched the ball ahead up the right sideline to Appleby, used a single dribble to
move the ball deeper into the front court and buried the winner to keep the Gators unbeaten. UF grad-transfer Phlandrous Fleming Jr. scored 19 points and senior forward Colin
Castleton added 11 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, but UF struggled all night to put the ball in the hole, finishing at 36.7 percent for the game,
including 31 in the first half. The Gators never quit, however, despite trailing by 10 points early in the second half and by seven with less than five minutes to go against an Ohio
State team that shot 53 percent in the first and 58 in the second. It helped that UF forced 18 turnovers and held OSU without a field goal the final three minutes. Liddell scored 23
points and grabbed five rebounds for the Buckeyes, who also got 11 points and six rebounds from forward Ryan Young before fouling out with nine minutes left. Castleton, voted
the tournament's MVP, hit the second of two free throws with 2:15 left to give the Gators their first lead since the 2:30 mark of the opening half. OSU got a couple free throws
around a Fleming miss before UF tied the game with 35 seconds when Appleby (8 points, 2 assists) lofted a perfect alley-oop that Duruji (8 points, 3 rebounds) tomahawked,
setting up the wild finish. Really wild.
WHAT IT MEANS: This team sent a message about its toughness and fight. What a great tournament to build on. Not only that, five games into the 2021-22 season, the Gators
have banked some quality Net Evaluation Tool (NET) points with two wins against current Quadrant-1 opponents (Florida State and OSU), which will look really nice down the line
when it comes time to survey postseason resumes. The marked the first time in 44 years that UF had won two straight holiday tournaments. In 1976, the Gators won the Gator
Bowl Tournament in Jacksonville and chased that a year later by winning the 1977 Vermont Classic. Florida is 5-0 for the first time since the '17-18 season and for the second
during Coach Mike White's seven seasons with the Gators.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: This was Fleming's breakout game in a UF uniform (5-for-11 from the floor, 9-for-10 from the free-throw line), but Appleby stole it ... and Fleming was totally
cool with it.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The perimeter starting trio of Appleby (2-for-10), Jones (2-for-7) and Brandon McKissic (2-for-10) combined to make just six of their 25 shots, and the
Gators still won. That's a testament to a lot of things, starting with their defense and ability to fight through adversity.
UP NEXT: Florida (5-0) will have Thanksgiving Day off, then return to work Friday in preparation for Sunday's noon home game against Troy (4-2). The Trojans, out of the Sun Belt
Conference, opened the season with a 70-59 loss at Butler, then won a close home opener against Jacksonville State before heading to the Boca Raton, Fla., to play in the six-
team, Florida Atlantic-hosted Paradise Classic. Troy lost its first game, 74-72, to North Dakota, but rebounded with wins over UT-Martin and FAU Monday.
Original source can be found here.
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