Unranked Florida men‘s basketball (17–10, 7–7 SEC) provided a huge boost to its tournament hopes with a 63–62 upset over No. 2 Auburn (24–3, 12–2 SEC) in Gainesville on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth affair.
The Gators were paced by senior guard Tyree Appleby, who scored 26 points on 7 for 15 shooting. He hit five threes.
Colin Castleton pitched in with 19 points on 7 for 13 shooting and eight rebounds for Florida, whose win greatly improved the program’s odds of making the NCAA tournament field. The Gators were one of a handful of programs viewed as being on the wrong side of the bubble heading into Saturday’s action.
Sports Illustrated’s bracketologist Kevin Sweeney weighed in on the Gators' needle-moving win:
“Florida had been dropping in recent weeks, from among the last teams in the field in late January to the fringes of the bubble conversion in SI’s most recent update. While knocking off a No. 1 seed in Auburn doesn’t lock the Gators in, it gives Mike White’s team new life and a real path to the Big Dance.“
Jabari Smith scored 28 points and added seven rebounds in the loss for Auburn, whose winless drought in road games against Florida extends to 14. The Tigers have not won in Gainesville since 1996.
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For more Florida coverage, visit All Gators.
