Fleming returns home as Gators win on 14 3-pointers

ATHENS, GA. — Phlandrous Fleming Jr. scored a season-high 27 points, Tyree Appleby added 21 and Florida hit 14 3-pointers in beating Georgia 84-72 on Saturday.

Fleming, a grad transfer who played four years at Charleston Southern, was born and raised in Athens. He made the most of his homecoming, shooting 11 of 18 with four 3s. Appleby had five 3s and 7 assists. Myreon Jones added 13 points and Colin Castleton 10 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists for a Florida (18-11, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) team on the NCAA Tournament bubble that couldn’t afford a loss to the last-place Bulldogs.

Kario Oquendo had 4 first-half 3-pointers and finished with 20 points to lead Georgia (6-23, 1-15), which has lost nine straight. Braelen Bridges added 16 points. Aaron Cook, with 10 points, had 4 assists to move up two spots to No. 3 on the program career list with 156. The Bulldogs shot 47%.

Florida, which averages eight 3s on 30.5% shooting, was 14 of 31 for 45%. The Gators shot 52% overall and outscored Georgia

19-8 off turnovers.

Appleby and Jones bookended a 10-0 run to open the second half for a 17-point lead. Georgia got the deficit back to single digits briefly before Appleby hit consecutive 3s and lead remained in double figures.

Florida made eight 3s in taking a 41-34 lead behind 10 points from Fleming in the first half. The Gators broke a tie and took the lead for good midway through the half with a 9-0 run capped by 7 straight points from Fleming. The Bulldogs, who had 6 first-half

3s, quickly cut the deficit to 2 after a 3 by Oquendo. A Fleming 3 with 24 seconds left gave Florida its 7-point edge.

The Gators have won six straight in the series, including a 72-63 win on Feb. 9. They played without Anthony Duruji, a 27-game starter this season, who was out with an injury.

Florida is at Vanderbilt on Tuesday and ends the regular season at home against No.

6 Kentucky next Saturday. Georgia is host to No. 17 Tennessee on Tuesday and ends the regular season at Missouri next Saturday.

MATT STAMEY/AP Florida guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr., dribbling against Arkansas during a Feb. 22 matchup, caught fire Saturday against Georgia.