Phlandrous Fleming Jr. powers Fla. past Georgia

Phlandrous Fleming Jr. turned in a terrific homecoming by scoring a season-high 27 points as Florida continued its dominance of rival Georgia, beating the Bulldogs 84-72 on Saturday afternoon in Athens, Ga.

An Athens native, Fleming connected on 11 of 18 shots as the Gators (18-11, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) broke away in a hot second half to win for the sixth straight time over the host Bulldogs (6-23, 1-15).

In a fine shooting outing, Tyree Appleby totaled 21 points and made 5 of 9 three-pointers. Myreon Jones added 13 points, and Colin Castleton tallied 10 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

The Gators’ hot shooting from beyond the arc was crucial, as they made 14 of 31 tries (45.2 percent).

Kario Oquendo scored 20 points to lead Georgia, which lost its ninth straight and will play as the 14th seed in the SEC tournament starting March 9 in Tampa, Fla.

Braelen Bridges added 16 points and Aaron Cook had 10.

Georgia’s 23 losses are the most in program history.

Leading by seven after a relatively close first 20 minutes, Florida made the biggest move on the scoreboard inside the first five minutes of the second half by scoring the first 10 points.

Jones’ long 3-pointer gave the Gators a 17-point lead with 17 minutes left at 44-27, but the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 56-49 with about 13 minutes remaining.

In the 225th meeting between the rival schools, both teams sizzled from downtown early in the game.

Georgia led 15-14 in the contest’s first 6:02 of play as the foes combined to go 7 of 11 from beyond the arc, with Oquendo and Appleby each nailing a pair of treys for their respective teams.

Fleming popped a triple and followed it up with a dunk on a three-on-two break, giving him seven early points and giving Florida a 29-20 lead with 7:16 left in the first half.

The Gators went on a 12-7 run

to close out the half with a 4134 advantage as they shot 50

percent from the field. Oquendo paced the Bulldogs

with 12 points behind 4-of-7 shooting from deep in the first half.

Dale Zanine-usa Today sports Georgia guard Aaron Cook (10) dribbles against Florida guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (24) during the second half Saturday in Athens.