Final: Florida 79, Iona 74
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 79, IONA 74
FLORIDA 79, IONA 74
WHAT HAPPENED: Forward Colin Castleton tallied his ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead four UF players into double-figure scoring and help the Gators rally in the second half Wednesday for a victory over Hall-of-Fame Coach Rick Pitino and the Gaels in first-round play of the National Invitational Tournament at Exactech Arena. Three days after Coach Mike White left to become coach at Georgia, Interim coach Al Pinkins manned the UF sidelines and the 20-year career assistant won his first game as a head coach. Graduate wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr. tallied 18 points, including two free throws with 32 seconds left to push UF up by five and help seal the deal. Fifth-year senior point guard Tyree Appleby broke out of his two-game funk with 14 points, including a couple huge 3-balls during the second-half surge, and five assists. Freshman guard Kowacie Reeves added 14 points and six rebounds. Florida went the first 30-plus minutes without taking a lead, twice having to fight back to erase eight-point deficits in the first half, then a couple sevens in the second. Two free throws by Appleby gave UF its first lead, 60-59, with 9:21 left, but Nelly Junior Joseph's putback put the Gaels back on top 20 seconds later. That's when the Gators took off on a run of eight straight points, including back-to-back 3s by Appleby, with the small but loud crowd getting very much into the game. Iona didn't go away, though. Twice the Gaels closed within a possession, but the Gators answered each time and actually weather a spell of three straight missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities. The Gaels started the game hot and stayed that way through the first half, shooting 53 percent for the period. They built an eight-point lead, but the Gators came back behind the shooting and dunking of Reeves (11 points in the first half) and had the game tied at 35 with less than two minutes to go in the half. Iona, though, scored the final seven points before intermission, including a 3-pointer from Walter Clayton Jr. at the buzzer, to take a 42-35 lead into the locker room. They stayed in front for the first half of the second half, before quick blitz of six straight points tied the game and set up their surge to the final buzzer, as Iona missed seven of its last eight shots. The Gators hit 55 percent in the second half, with five of 12 makes from deep, versus 38 percent for the Gaels (2-for-11 from the arc) after the break.
Movin' on 👏#GoGators | #GatorsHoop | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/OFNidpzORN
— Florida Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 17, 2022
WHAT IT MEANS: Pinkins and the Gators get to play another game (see below), as the UF administrators work on the search for the next head coach.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Take a bow, Al. Remarkably, Pinkins did something that UF icon coach Billy Donovan couldn't do in seven tries: Beat Pitino, his mentor. And he did it on "Billy Donovan Court." Pinkins career record of 1-0 puts him on top of the UF all-time coaching list, by winning percentage. Hey, that's something.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gators scored 80 points in their loss last week against Texas A&M in second-round play of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. They scored 79 in this game. Those are the two back-to-back highest-scoring games for the team since beating Milwaukee 81-45 on Nov. 18, then California four days later in first-round play of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
UP NEXT: Florida (20-13) will play Xavier (19-13) in second-round NIT action Sunday at Cincinnati in a game that will feature not one but two teams with high-profile head-coaching vacancies. The Muskeeters fired their coach, Travis Steele, on Wednesday, just hours after they defeated Cleveland State in first-round NIT action. Steele took over in 2017 when Chris Mack bolted for Louisville and went 70-50 over his four seasons. Steele temporarily will be replaced by assistant Jonas Hayes, making the UF-XU a unique matchup of a pair of interim coaches.
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