The No. 17 Florida Gators basketball team came into Tuesday night’s game on high alert for a trap game at Georgia, fresh off the biggest win of the year against Kentucky the game before. Florida did not exactly play up to the level it had been over the last two weeks but did manage to come away with a 72-60 win over the Bulldogs.
It was the fifth consecutive win of double-digits for the Gators. The victory, along with a South Carolina loss, put Florida in a three-way tie with South Carolina and Kentucky for the top spot in the SEC.
After going down by five to start the game, Justin Leon answered with five straight points and the Gators would never trail the Bulldogs again. Florida went on to dominate the next 10 minutes of the half, going on a 21-4 run to take a 21-9 lead. The Gators were 12-for-16 during the span and went up by as many as 16 in the half, with a 30-14 advantage.
Then, as the story usually goes once a game, Florida went ice cold, missing 16 of its next 17 shots, including 10 straight misses. Meanwhile, Georgia went on a 17-1 run to tie the game at 31. A couple of KeVaughn Allen free-throws and a Kasey Hill jumper left the Gators clinging to a 35-33 lead at halftime.
“I was down on how we handled that second 10-minute segment, and Georgia, of course, had everything to do with that,” Mike White said on the Georgia run to end the half. “I thought that our energy dropped a little bit when they punched us and the volume level increased in Stegeman … That carried over a little bit to the defensive end and we can’t have that. It’s something we continue to address.”
Whatever White said in the locker room at halftime, it got the Gators back focused defensively. Florida went up by 10 points four different times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Georgia continued to try to scrape back. The Bulldogs brought the game within five with 7:42 remaining, when Allen hit a dagger three to silence the building. Kasey Hill came behind with a steal and a layup on the other end two possessions later to take a comfortable lead back for good.
“I don’t think it was anything special I said or our staff said,” White said. “We challenged them, of course. That’s our job. Addressed some of the deficiencies that we had in the second 10 minutes of the first half, that second quarter if you will … We watched at halftime some of the things we could’ve done a little bit better and our guys just regained that focus and cleared their minds and got back to understanding what’s most important, to give ourselves a chance to guard these guys, which is difficult. I thought in the second 20 minutes, really the first 19 minutes of the second half, we were fantastic defensively.”
Florida’s outstanding night defensively was highlighted by 18 forced turnovers, 12 steals and seven blocks. Chris Chiozza led the Gators with four steals, while Kevarrius Hayes led with four blocks on the night.
The Gators held Georgia to just 33 percent (21-for-63) from the field, but there was no stopping Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier. The pair combined for 37 of Georgia’s 60 points. Maten had 19, while Frazier had 18, including a 6-for-9 night from beyond the arc. The next highest scorer for the Bulldogs had just five points.
“That wasn’t the plan,” said White. “We came in here and wanted to do the best possible job we could with those guys, they’re just very, very good. I know Maten had a hard one there, late clock, first half. He also makes things look easy, at times, with his feel, his understanding. They’ve just done a really good job with him. He’s one of the most improved guys in the country and he just understands how to create space for himself on the interior. He’s got great feet. He’s so strong. Golly, is he a strong guy, and he’s very skilled great hands. Then Frazier’s motor is just off the charts. He just keeps coming and keeps coming, and he plays downhill.”
As for Florida, four different guys put up double-digits on the night, but the most outstanding performance came from Chiozza. He was 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three, for a team-leading 15 points.
Chiozza has been playing on a different level these last few games. It’s like something just clicked for him recently. He was named SEC player of the week last week after a triple-double off the bench against Missouri and a great defensive game against Kentucky to aid Florida in the upset. He continued to play his best basketball of the season on Tuesday.
“Chris was in a rough spot there, I don’t know, three or four weeks ago, and Chris came into my office and asked to talk to me,” White said. “You know, guys come through all the time, of course, but he wasn’t proud of the way that he had been playing and his focus level. It was all him, and he said, ‘Coach, I just want you to know that I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win at a really high level, whatever I’ve gotta do, however, many minutes I get’. It was great, and he’s been a different guy since and he’s playing as well as anyone on our team.”
Three other players joined Chiozza with impressive offensive outings against Georgia. Hill was right behind with 12 points and five assists on the night. Canyon Barry had 11, four of which coming off of free-throws, to add on to his made free-throw streak that now sits at 35 in a row. Leon had 10 points and led the Gators with seven rebounds.
Florida now gets a little bit of a break after playing three games in six days. The Gators will host Texas A&M on Saturday as they look to keep the winning streak alive and stay at the top of the SEC.