Hometown Hero: Phlandrous Fleming Jr. leads Gators to road win in Athens
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. found his comfort zone Saturday in his hometown.
With family and friends in attendance, the Athens native scored a season-high 27 points in Stegeman Coliseum to lead the Gators to 84-72 road win over Georgia.
He also finished with season highs in field goals made (11), field goal attempts (18) and 3-pointers, shooting 4-for-9 from downtown with five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Fleming admits he had this game circled on his calendar.
“I did circle this one,” Fleming said after the game, “and I’m so happy it turned out this way. All glory to God. … This is the first time I played in Athens since I got out of high school.
“Last time I was in this building was my state championship game. So, it felt amazing to see all my friends and family come out and support me. It was about 50, but I’m starting to think it was 60-70 people. They were all in here.”
Fleming had an early dunk and caught fire at the end of the first period with 7 straight points. He then scored 17 second-half points including another slam and an exclamation 3-pointer late.
“I tried to come off screens and get to my spots,” Fleming said. “It felt like I was right back in a Cedar Shoals High School jersey again. I was doing pretty good, and coach told me to keep it simple and don’t try to do too much. So, I tried to take to the right shots and I had success.”
Fleming entered the game averaging 10.1 points, and his previous season high was 20 against Stony Brook on Dec. 22. Florida coach Mike White knew early in the second half that Fleming had the hot hand and kept going back to him.
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“When he hit one of his patented pull-ups,” White recalled, “I said, ‘Damn, he’s having a pretty good game. Let’s ride him a little bit more.’
“Really shot it with confidence. You could tell just by the way he carried himself, he felt good about the way he’s playing. Hopefully this will continue to add to his confidence level.”
Fleming was one of four Gators to score in double figures, along with Tyree Appleby (21 points), Myreon Jones (13 points) and Colin Castleton, who posted his eighth double-double of the season (10 points, 11 rebounds) and had three blocks.
Florida will be back the road Tuesday against Vanderbilt at 8:30 p.m. before its rematch with No. 6 Kentucky next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
