Trailing Army by margins of 7-0, 12-2 and 39-30 in the first half had to be a familiar feeling for the Florida Gators men’s basketball team, or at least the ones who were around for the 2019-20 season.
Florida showed down the stretch that it has some of that team’s fortitude, too.
Tre Mann scored 19 points, had six rebounds, and dished five assists, and Tyree Appleby contributed all 15 of his points in the second half, helping Florida stage a comeback to beat the Black Knights, 76-69.
Florida started slowly — a hallmark of the program’s play a year ago — and found itself trailing for the entirety of the first half largely because it struggled to defend the three-point line, where Army splashed in six threes.