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Florida upsets No. 2 Auburn with big games from Tyree Appleby, Colin Castleton
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Florida basketball boosted its NCAA Tournament resume in a big way Saturday by taking down No. 2 Auburn 63-62 in Gainesville.
Florida had a 7-point lead 62-55 with 1:42 remaining in the game, but couldn’t put Auburn away. The Gators turned it over on an inbound with 9.9 seconds left, setting up one last possession for the Tigers with 7.1 on the clock. AU did not get a shot off before the buzzer.
Auburn's final possession at Florida pic.twitter.com/PW4udtkz4s
— Patrick Greenfield (@PCGreenfield) February 19, 2022
UF fans stormed Billy Donovan Court to celebrate the program’s first win over a top-2 team since 2009.
GATORS TAKE DOWN NO. 2 AUBURN 🐊@GatorsMBK gets its first win vs. a top-2 team since 2009! pic.twitter.com/N9NmhkiYOh
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 19, 2022
FINAL: #Gators shock No. 2 Auburn, 63-62, storm the court for the first time in program history. pic.twitter.com/ndA0hzeZpd
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall_) February 19, 2022
Tyree Appleby led the way for the Gators with 26 points, including 5 triples. Colin Castleton had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Auburn’s Jabari Smith led all with 28 points.
Mike White’s squad entered the game as a “Next Four Out” team in Joe Lunardi’s Saturday morning Bracketology. The win over Auburn will be a big boost, but the Gators will probably need a solid showing in the final 4 regular-season contests against Arkansas, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Kentucky to make the Big Dance.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.