Colin Castleton scored a game-high 17 points Saturday as Florida rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to stop Ole Miss 62-57 in overtime in Southeastern Conference play at Gainesville, Fla.
Playing his first game after a six-game absence due to injury, Castleton hit 6 of 12 shots from the field, including a jumper with 1:27 left in OT for a 56-50 lead. Myreon Jones followed on the next possession with a 3-pointer that made it 59-50.
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Gators (15-8, 5-5 SEC), who avoided a loss that would have damaged their NCAA Tournament hopes. Tyree Appleby contributed 10 points and 10 assists, and knocked down the clinching foul shots with 3.0 seconds left in overtime.
Tye Fagan scored 15 points for the Rebels (12-11, 3-7) but had nine of their 14 turnovers that the Gators converted into 15 points. Matthew Murrell added 14 points and Nysier Brooks finished with 11 points, plus nine rebounds.
Ole Miss forced overtime when Fagan connected on a jumper with 54 seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 48. It finished a 6-0 run to close regulation. Florida failed to score over the last 3:36 of the second half.
Ole Miss controlled the first half behind strong rebounding and fierce defense, as well as the scoring of Murrell. He connected on three 3-pointers in the first half, accounting for nearly all of his 10 points.
Both teams struggled out of the gate. It was 5-3 Florida at the first television timeout, just over four minutes into the game. And neither team got to double figures until Murrell’s first 3-pointer gave the Rebels a 10-9 edge at the 11:39 mark.
But Ole Miss picked up its scoring pace a bit after that while the Gators seemed unable to get any facet of their game going. Fagan’s 3-pointer with 8:19 left capped an 11-0 burst that gave the Rebels an 18-9 advantage. They took a 30-21 cushion to halftime, thanks to a 24-11 margin on the boards and an 11-0 lead in second-chance points.
–Field Level Media
