If only Florida could play all of its games in Athens, Georgia, the Gators might be in the argument for a 1 seed.
And Phlandrous Fleming Jr. might be a candidate for player of the year.
Playing in his hometown, Fleming went off, scoring 27 points and basically running the second-half offense through him as the Orange and Clue cruised to an 84-72 win.
It was the spark Florida needed in a game where the Gators struggled enough defensively to let Georgia stay within reach. But offensively, the usually-challenged Gators went nuts.
Florida, now 18-11 overall and 8-8 in the SEC, shot 51.7% from the field and made 14 threes to seize a win it had to have.
“It felt amazing,” said Fleming, who drew the ire of some Gator fans when he celebrated Georgia’s football championship on Instagram. “I lost the last time I was in this arena.”
That was in high school at Cedar Shoals. He lost that game in the state championship. On Saturday, he helped the Gators overcome the loss of another player when Anthony Duruji was scratched.
“He made shots. He made plays,” said Mike White. “He was really locked in defensively.”
Florida led by seven at the half and scored the first 10 points in the second half. But Georgia kept making mini-runs to make it just a little nervous for a Florida team that had to avoid a resume-killing loss.
The Gators did it by making shots and avoiding turnovers. Tyree Appleby had 21 points and Colin Castleton had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He also had three blocked shots and five assists — four of the latter coming in the opening possessions of the game.
“It was as well as we’ve played offensively all year,” White said.
Georgia (6-23, 2-15) played a sagging defense on Castleton daring the Gators to shoot the three.
That opened the door for Fleming, who said he might have had 60 or 70 family members and supporters at the game and was cheered when he was introduced.
“I felt like I was back in my Cedar Shoals jersey,” he said.