COLUMBIA, Mo. — In two seasons wearing a Florida uniform, Tyree Appleby has made 84.6 percent of his free throws, a career number that places him among the top five in program history. Like all great free-throw shooters, Appleby has a routine and never, ever wavers from it. Regardless of score, clock or environment.
His method: Three dribbles, a deep breathe, then one word spoken out loud.
"Automatic," he says.
Appleby was that Wednesday afternoon against Missouri in making all 10 of his free throws, including two with 7.9 seconds remaining that proved the difference in the Gators' come-from-behind 66-65 victory at Mizzou Arena. And while on the topic, the a-word applied to his teammates over the final 7:55 of the game, as UF erased a nine-point deficit not by scoring baskets — actually, the Gators made just six field goals on 20 shots in the second half — but by making all 17 free throws in those final minutes, while also picking up their intensity on the defensive end to win a big Southeastern Conference game on the road.
Senior guard Myreon Jones led the Gators (14-8, 4-5) with 18 points, all but three coming in the first half when he dropped five 3-pointers. Appleby, meantime, scored all 17 of his points in the second half, while fifth-year senior forward Anthony Duruji added 14 points and graduate wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr. had 12 points and six rebounds. That foursome also was a collective 22-for-24 from the line for the game, and were perfect, with each pitching in, during that rush and rally inside the final eight minutes.
"Incredibly resilient group," UF coach Mike White said after a second straight win and the first for his team over the previous three in SEC play. "I know people are sick of hearing it — I'm sick of hearing myself say the same thing over and over — but it is reality, with the amount of adversity these guys have had to deal with. Really proud of them, but not surprised with the fight they showed."
Added Jones: "We stayed together … and we made free our free throws."
Senior guard Myreon Jones (0) hit his first five 3-point shots Wednesday.
Florida-Missouri was scheduled to be played at 9 p.m. ET, but the league moved the game up six hours because of a blizzard that moved across the Midwest late Tuesday night. To accomodoate the earlier tipoff, the Gators cut practice short Tuesday and left Gainesville early to beat the storm. They got here, of course, with 6-foot-11 senior forward Colin Castleton (shoulder injury), the team's leading scorer and rebounder, unavailable for a sixth straight game and his 6-11 backup, Jason Jitoboh, back home and out for the season following eye surgery Friday.
UF rolled its small-ball lineup out for a second straight game, with the 6-7 Duruji playing the post, surrounded by four guards. The Gators were both good and bad over the first 20 minutes, with Appleby picking up his second foul at the 16:23 mark and sitting the rest of the period. His teammates, specifically Jones, built a quick eight-point lead by making eight of 14 from the 3-point line, but only led by two, 33-31, at the half, thanks to nine turnovers the Tigers (8-13, 2-6) converted into 15 points.
Everything changed in the second half. Pretty much immediately.
Guard DeJuan Golden (10 points, 9 rebounds) hit back-to-back 3s early in the period and got the Tigers going. Down 41-40, a run of nine straight points, including a 28-foot desperation 3 by guard Jarron Coleman (12 points) as the shot clock sounded, had Mizzou up 48-40 with 10 minutes to play. The Tigers' lead was nine, 52-43, at the under-seven-minute timeout, at which point Florida was 3-for-15 from the floor (and just one for its last 11, with five turnovers) versus 9-for-17, with a trio of 3s, for the home team.
"Missouri had it going. They were throwing haymakers and making shots and made it hard on us," White said. "We had some ugly possessions."
A couple of them belonged to Appleby, who at that under-seven timeout had three points and three turnovers over his 14 minutes. The Gators' offense had no rhythm, but it had one thing going for it.
UF was in the bonus.
Anthony Duruji(4) drives for a late layup, with the help of an excellent seal from Tuongthach Gatkek (32), that kept the Gators within striking distance.
"Down the stretch, we just decided to try and attack," said Fleming, whose two free throws out of that timeout started the UF rally. "We were down, they were fouling a lot and with the way the game was being called we had to step up and make some free throws if we were going to win the game,."
Seven Florida free throws accounted for a 9-1 run that made it a one-point game with just over six minutes to go. Missouri was up by five, 57-52 approaching the three-minute mark when Duruji hit two free throws to keep it a one-possession game. The Tigers were still up three with a minute left, then again after backup forward Ronnie DeGray (13 points), who was 6-for-7 from the floor, took a great extra pass from driving Kobe Brown to put in a layup and give the Tigers a 65-62 edge with 36.1 seconds left.
For some reason, Missouri fouled Appleby on the inbound after the basket, with less than two seconds coming off the clock. He made both his free throws with 34.5 to go. At the other end, the Gators fouled Coleman, who bounced the front end of a one-and-one with 22.5 left, with UF gathering the rebound.
Missouri picked Appleby up just beyond midcourt and he blew past his defender, hit the lane and was fouled driving to the basket with 7.9 left. Facing into the screaming student section, Appleby made both.
"I don't hear the fans or any of their talking," he said. "My teammate and my coaches, that's all I hear."
Appleby heard cheers from them as he came to the UF bench for a timeout, while Missouri schemed at the other side of the floor.
"Contest the shot," Fleming said of UF's plan for the Tigers' final possession. "Play defense without fouling."
Missouri guard Javon Pickett is smothered in the corner and can't get a good look over UF's Anthony Duruji on his attempt at a game-winner.
Davis drove the length of floor, spun into the paint and tried to throw up a shot that Florida backup forward Tuongthach Gatkek swatted out of bounds with 2.2 seconds left, his career-high fifth block of the game. Out of another timeout, Missouri could manage only to funnel a sidelines inbounds pass to Coleman in the corner. He could do no more than pull up for a desperation corner 3 with Duruji in his face.
It was an airball.
Or, put another, anti-automatic.
"We pulled it out through toughness," Appleby said. "Collectively, we just came together and we won this game."
One they absolutely had to have; sort of like every one of those 17 crunch-time free throws.
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