The Florida Gators basketball (7-3) defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-4) with a score of 72-70 on Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida as part of the Orange Bowl Classic.
Redshirt senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith lead the Gators in scoring with 16 pts., followed by sophomore forward Devin Robinson with 13.
It was D-Rob who also got the ball rolling for Florida with a jumper that floated into the net and then followed it quickly with an offensive rebound on the next possession.
From there the Cowboys took it on a 7-2 run, causing head coach Mike White to use his timeout and stress responsibility to his team.
They got the message and at the under-8 timeout, the Florida Gators had gone on a 10-2 run. Coming out of the timeout, they kept things moving quickly with a coast-to-coast dunk from freshman guard KeVaughn Allen.
Defensive play, which has been the Gators strong suit, kept things close and Florida took a 35-34 lead into halftime.
Momentum in the second half opened in the Florida Gators basketball teams favor with a 3 pointer from freshman guard Chris Chiozza (4-11, 2-7 from 3 for 11 pts) and from there the defense settled in even forcing 3 turnovers within 40 seconds going into the under-16 media timeout. The defense continued to push Oklahoma State deep into their shot clock and cause fatigue from the Cowboys.
The offense was able to keep up a quicker pace of play for several minutes, but with just under 10 minutes left to go in the game the Cowboys had pushed it to a tie at 51.
Redshirt senior Dorian Finney-Smith didn’t let that last for long though as the forward took a long shot from the top of the key to make it 54-51 and further proving he is Mr. “Do What Needs To Be Done.”
Doe finished with team high 16 points and 9 rebounds.
From there the 3 point line opened up and there was even a point at the 8:47 mark when the Gators last three field goals were all from downtown.
A 9-0 run from Florida accumulated with a steal from Chiozza that resulted in a layup and-1.
And when Doe-Doe could be seen grinning after a DeVon Walker block, we caught glimpses of the free playing team this group can be.
Things got serious again though when Oklahoma State guard Jeff Newberry hit two free throws and quickly followed with a 3-pointer to make it a two point game.
But just as he had done not too much earlier, Finney-Smith slipped back into his role of the Florida Gators basketball team’s go-to guy, taking an assist from KeVaughn Allen to hit a long 3 in almost the exact same spot he’d lined up his previous one. The shot cut into a 10-2 OSU run and make the score 69-64.
Big man John Egbunu went 1-4 in two consecutive trips to the free throw line and looked to be coming out with four fouls as well. But head coach Mike White elected to keep his center in the game with a four-point lead.
The ball spent much of the remaining seconds in the game on the Cowboys end while OSU made a push for a late comeback.
Devin Robinson climbed a ladder to grab one rebound and then White’s decision to keep Egbunu in paid dividends on defense as Big John blocked a shot from here to Sunday with 20 seconds left.
One last free throw from “Do-It-All-Doe-Doe” essentially put the game away and the Florida Gators basketball team returns to Gainesville with a 72-70 win.
The Gators get a short weekend and then will face off against Jacksonville for a pre-Christmas matchup on Tuesday December 22. The game is set to tip off at 7pm in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center and can be seen on SEC Network + and as always, make sure you’re a member of GatorCountry.com so you can follow along for full coverage.