Gators beat Vandy with late block, go-ahead 3 from Phlandrous Fleming Jr.
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. followed up his breakout performance in Athens with some late-game heroics for the Gators on Tuesday night at Vanderbilt.
Fleming sparked a 9-0 run for Florida in the final 31 seconds with a block from behind on Scotty Pippen Jr. and an assist to Tuongthach Gatkek, cutting the deficit to 78-77. After a Commodores turnover on the inbounds pass, Fleming hit the go-ahead 3 to put UF up with 6.3 seconds left.
Pippen went to the line with a chance to tie the game, but missed the one-and-one as Colin Castleton grabbed the rebound and added two free throws to give the Gators an 82-78 comeback win over Vandy and a much-needed quad one victory.
Prior to his block on Pippen, who led all scorers with 29 points, Fleming said he heard the Commodores call out “home run” before the play.
“I was wondering who was going to go get it. They threw it and I just tried to run as fast as I possibly could. I knew that was going to be a tough one to recover from,” Fleming said of the block. “The 3 was amazing. It was Colin’s unselfishness. Everybody in the gym knew where we were going with the ball, and they doubled him. He threw it right to me, trusted me with the ball, and I made the shot. It was all Colin.”
Which play did Fleming enjoy more, the chase-down block or go-ahead shot? Florida coach Mike White wasn’t sure what his answer would be.
“With him, I’m gonna say … I don’t know,” White said. “What did he tell you?”
Fleming didn’t hesitate when Gators Online posed the question to him.
“100 percent the block,” Fleming said emphatically. “Everybody in the gym thought he had it. I thought he was going to try and dunk it. My teammates even told me that they if they would have seen the picture, they didn’t think I was going to go and get it. So, the block definitely was the best part. I’m a defender first.”
Fleming, who scored a season-high 27 points Saturday at UGA, finished with 16 points, six assists, three steals and two blocks in Nashville. White recalled another chase-down block that Fleming made early in the year against South Florida.
“That’s how Phlan plays. He leaves it on the floor. What an effort by all these guys. That was a microcosm of it there,” White said of the block on Pippen. “Of course, I thought Phlan hit a huge shot off some good ball movement.
“You feel like you stole one. You’re always talking about trying to steal one on the road and we really stole this one. I thought Vanderbilt was fantastic and I’m just proud of my guys’ effort and resilience down the stretch.”
Fleming was one of four Gators in double figures, along with Castleton (team-high 19 points), Myreon Jones (13) and Tyree Appleby (12). Florida overcame a nine-point second-half deficit and a season-high 15 3-pointers from the Commodores, who shot 52 percent from downtown.
“I’ve never been a part of a game where the opposing team does that much damage offensively, late clock,” White said. “But, credit my guys. What a resilient group, what a tough group, and incredible adversity throughout the game. We’re down late and they continued to fight.”
