Gators Make Cowboys' Turnovers Count in Orange Bowl Victory

Saturday, December 19

Sunrise, FL

8:00 PM

Florida Gators

7-3

Oklahoma State

7-4

Oklahoma State

Florida

Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith was named MVP of the 2015 Orange Bowl Classic after scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Gators Make Cowboys' Turnovers Count in Orange Bowl Victory

Sunday, December 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The pass sailed out of bounds, glancing off a Florida defender with three seconds showing on the shot clock. On the ensuing inbounds play, Oklahoma State guard Tavarius Shine shoveled the ball in the direction of point guard Jawun Evans, only to have Gators guard Chris Chiozza's hands whisk in front of Evans' his face.

Off went the ball toward midcourt, where Chiozza gathered it, raced toward the rim, gave a slight hesitation, then pushed hard to the basket.

Bank shot. Make. Foul. Free throw.

The sequence was the third in a pivotal three-possession run from a tied score that gave the Gators a nine-point cushion that proved enough to stave off the Cowboys for a 72-70 victory Saturday night in the featured game of Orange Bowl Classic at BT&T Center.

"We just want to cause pressure on the ball," Chiozza said. "When we do that, our defense is at its best. And it's fun playing that way, too."

The Gators (7-3) played maybe their best all-around defensive game of the season their last time out; a week earlier in a six-point loss at top-ranked Michigan State. There was some carryover, along with some signs of progress offensively -- nearly 43 percent from the floor marked the team's best shooting effort in five games -- but more than anything it was a win on a night the Cowboys (7-4) hit some timely shots late and capitalized on free-throw shooting to take the game to the wire.

"We stayed together, showed some poise and made some plays offensively. We did just enough," said UF coach Mike White, whose team once again clanged from the 3-point line (30.8 percent), but kept firing away and managed to hit eight long balls (out of 26), which tied for the second-most this season. "Hopefully, this is something for us that we can learn from and this experience will help us. I'm sure we'll be in a position like this several more times this year."

Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points and hit one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left for a five-point lead. He also cleared nine rebounds and had a pair of steals. Sophomore forward Devin Robinson added 13 points and six rebounds, while Chiozza, in his second start of the season, was good for 11 points and four steals, accounting for nearly half of UF's 10 thefts that keyed a 21-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

"A couple plays here and there were the difference," OSU coach Travis Ford said. "Florida got a couple key turnovers and converted the turnovers."

The Gators only turned it over seven times themselves for the game, but forced 14. Whether it was Chiozza in the open floor, Finney-Smith nailing a 3-pointer or freshman guard KeVaughn Allen (11 points, 2 steals) going coast-to-coast for a dunk, Florida made their sudden changes count more often than Oklahoma State did.

"That's something we want to be a staple of ours as we go through the season," White said. "This showed us we're capable of doing that."

Added Finney-Smith, who took home the event's MVP honors: "We want to be a hard-nosed team that prides [itself] on defense. We did a good job tonight of creating turnovers with a lot of energy."

Not right away. The Gators fell behind 9-2 out of the gate. After hitting their first shot, they missed the next seven, but eventually worked back to tie the game at 20 and lead by one, 35-34, at halftime.

The lead see-sawed five times through the first 10 minutes of the second period. The score was locked at 51 when Finney-Smith bombed a 3-ball from the top of the key. At the other end, the Gators harassed the Cowboys into a pass that sailed out of bounds late in the shot clock and UF made them pay when Finney-Smith found Chiozza, fast becoming the team's best long-distance shooter, for a 3-pointer to push the lead to six.

"Chris was awesome," White said. "He's continuing to earn more minutes, more trust."

Chiozza's steal, finish and free throw on OSU's next possession made the score 60-51 with 8:34 to go, as Ford called a timeout to calm his troops.

"They got really intense on defense," said Cowboys guard Leyton Hammonds, who went for 14 points and five rebounds. "They were disrupting passes in the lanes and I feel like it changed the game a little bit. They came out more aggressive then us in the second half and that's how it went after that."

Not quite all the way after that.

OSU's 10-2 run made it 66-64 inside four minutes until Allen made a nice drive and dish to Finney-Smith, who knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a five-point lead at the 2:43 mark.

That's when the Cowboys began intentionally fouling sophomore center John Egbunu (10 points, 3 rebounds), who came in hitting 76.7 from the line for the young season, but fought himself there all night in going 2-for-9 and blazing a trail for UF to go 12-for-26 as a team (46.2 percent).

Egbunu missed four of six free throws in the final 2:10, but a series of three missed field goals by the Cowboys -- when down four in the final minute -- ended with a rebound and foul of Finney-Smith with 6.9 seconds left.

He hit one of two, pushing the margin to five, before Evans (17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) sank a 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second left. The Gators, after a timeout, got the ball in bounds and got the final horn.

"We're happy we got the win, but at the same time we've got a lot of work to do," Robinson said. "We just have to get back to school and fine tune some things."

Free-throw shooting, as always, will be on the agenda.

"We continue to miss too many few throws," White said. "And we'll continue to get more reps too."

The concentration on defense figures to remain the same, as well. The Gators may not have an offensive identity yet, but they've proven their willing to guard.

Ultimately, their prowess on that end of the floor can only help what goes on at the other end.