Florida entered Stegeman Coliseum Saturday for its away matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs, but for senior guard Phlandrous Fleming, the game was his homecoming.
An Athens, Georgia native, Fleming spent four years at Cedar Shoals high school, located just 10 minutes away from the Georgia campus. The senior hadn’t played in Athens since his high school state championship in the same arena. Fleming put on a show in his return for the dozens of friends and family in attendance.
Fleming put on a show in his return for the dozens of friends and family in attendance as Florida (18-11, 8-8) defeated Georgia (6-23, 1-15) 84-72 in a must-win matchup for the Gators to continue trending upwards in the tournament bubble.
“It felt like I was right back in my high school jersey again, man,” Fleming said. “I was feeling pretty good. Coach told me to keep it simple, don’t try to do too much and that’s what I tried to do.”
Both teams came out red-hot to start the game, shooting above 45% while Florida found some heat to record 53.3% from 3-point land. Senior forward Colin Castleton claimed a supporting role Saturday with three blocks and five assists in the game, following up a dominant career-high 29 points in a loss to Arkansas on Tuesday.
Each time Florida would try and make a run, the ‘Dawgs would claw their way back.
Florida sparked a 9-0 run before Georgia responded with seven unanswered points of its own. Both teams scored five in the last two minutes of the half.
Florida led 41-34 heading into the locker room. Both teams were having some of their best offensive play of the season, but UF’s four blocks in the first half helped the Gators edge out an advantage.
The Gators kept momentum rolling in the second period. Florida scored 10 straight on 5-7 shooting to open up the half, reaching their largest lead of 17 points. Georgia once again began to heat up, going on a 7-0 run and bringing the Florida lead back down to 10 points with 11:58 remaining.
Georgia would eventually burn out but Florida stayed aflame offensively longer to toast the ‘Dawgs. Four Gators recorded double-digit scoring figures in the game. Florida picked up defensively with two blocks and 12 points off Georgia’s six second-half turnovers. Fleming scored 17 in the second half to propel the Gators towards a season sweep over Georgia.
Florida would return home from Athens victorious with just two games remaining in the regular season. The win also comes without the contribution of typical starting forward Anthony Duruji.
Head coach Mike White continued to preach the in-the-moment mentality he spoke of all season.
“We’re gonna harp on some of the positive and harp on some of the things we could’ve done a little bit better,” White said. “Prepare to take it one possession at a time in Nashville. Try to get a great shot and try to get a stop, that’s it. We’re gonna stay in the moment as a program and continue to try to grow and get better every day.”
Florida travels to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt Tuesday 8:30 p.m. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. and will broadcast on the SEC Network.
Contact Jackson Castellano at jcastellano@alligator.org. Find him on Twitter @jaxacastellano.
Jackson Castellano is a third-year sports media journalism student and the Digital Managing Editor at The Alligator for Spring 2024. In the past, he's served as the Sports Editor, Assistant Sports Editor and a Sports Reporter covering Football, Men's basketball and Baseball.
