Tyree Appleby playing his best basketball when Gators need him most
Tyree Appleby has come through in the clutch for Florida the past two games, leading the Gators to back-to-back wins despite their depleted frontcourt.
After dropping a team-high 21 points — his most at UF — against Oklahoma State last Saturday, Appleby followed that up Wednesday with a dominant second-half performance at Missouri.
He scored all of his 17 points after the break, his second-highest total this season, to rally Florida from a nine-point deficit and pull out a 66-65 win.
“Tyree showed a ton of swagger,” Gators coach Mike White said after the game. “Down the stretch, for the most part, we rode him. He played very cleanly with his decisions, drawing fouls and converting. He took us to the finish line offensively.”
With his team trailing since the 16:03 mark, Appleby’s two foul shots with 7.9 seconds left gave UF the lead and proved to be the game-winning free throws. Appleby finished a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.
“It feels good,” Appelby said. “I preach to myself all the time, ‘I’m automatic from the free throw line.’ I think we shoot the most free throws between any team in the country. So I just think it prepared me for that moment.
“My coaches just kept telling me to stay poised, to stay ready. As a collective group, I think we just pulled that out through the toughness, through all the adversity we were facing. We came together and just won this game.”
Tyree Appleby stepping up with Florida bigs out
After scoring a season-low 2 points against LSU and just 4 points at South Carolina, Appleby has taken his game to another level since Colin Castleton’s shoulder injury.
He’s has scored in double figures for six straight games, starting with his 17-point performance in an 80-72 win over Mississippi State, Florida’s first game without Castleton.
White said Appleby was playing the best basketball of his career in the loss at Tennessee, and that has continued the past two games.
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“Really satisfying. I love Tyree, he’s a great kid. Love his family,” said White, who coached Tyree’s older brother Raheem at Louisiana Tech. “It’s important to him. He’s a scrappy, physically tough, competitive, high-character kid. And, you know, he’s had his ups and downs, like our entire team has this year.
“And his last go-round, to be playing, this time of year, his best basketball, is gratifying. But it’s what should happen. With older guys, juniors and seniors, you love to see guys figure it out. I think he feels good about the way he’s playing, of course, but we’ve got a bunch more.”
Despite missing Castleton and Jason Jitoboh (eye), Appleby said he hasn’t put pressure on himself to provide more offensive production. He’s taking a simple approach and not trying to play hero ball.
“That’s not what we preach,” Appleby said. “We don’t do too much. Make the simple plays, do the simple things and do everything you can to try and impact the game.”
Appleby is not only impacting the game, but his teammates. The senior point guard’s presence and leadership has set the tone for the Gators without Castleton, their best player.
“He just brings it. He’s got about as strong a voice as anyone on this team,” White said of Appleby. “When he’s playing well, it means something. And when he says something, it holds weight. He’s shown character. He’s grown, he’s matured and it’s not surprising that he’s playing some of his best basketball.”
