At the Buzzer: Florida 73, St. Bonaventure 66

Graphic: Scott MacCord/UAA Communications

At the Buzzer: Florida 73, St. Bonaventure 66

Thursday, November 17, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Photo Gallery by MacKenzie Meyer & Tim Casey

The Gators played in Lakeland for the first time in 37 years Thursday night.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 73, ST. BONAVENTURE 66

WHAT HAPPENED: Insanity, that's what. UF led by 15 with 11 minutes to go, then the game was tied at 66 inside a minute left when forward Canyon Barry hit a couple free throws to push the Gators in front by two. Still, the Bonnies had all the momentum, thanks to a flurry of 3-point shots in the second half and a numbing 15-2 run that tied the game late. But a 3-ball from SBU guard Jaylen Adams turned into a rebound by Chris Chiozza and pass-out for a run-out dunk for John Egbunu. UF by four. Then a turnover, forced by Chiozza, became a run-out dunk by Devin Robinson and the Gators, scoring the game's final seven points, escaped the Lakeland Center with a win they easily could have lost. Sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen led UF with 16 points, hitting 7-for-14 from the floor. Barry, the fifth-year grad transfer, came off the bench for 16 points and five rebounds. Robinson had 14 points on 6-for-6 from the floor and seven rebounds, while playing most the game in foul trouble. The Bonnies got 48 points from their backcourt combination of Allen and Matt Mobley.

WHAT IT MEANS: UF survived a wicked scare from a really good Atlantic 10 Conference team -- probably one that will be in the NCAA Tournament -- and on a neutral site. The Bonnies were very well represented in the Polk Country crowd, by the way. For Florida, that's three wins away from the O'Dome in as many tries.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Allen and Mobley went a combined 17 of 31 from the floor, including 9-for-22 from the 3-point line. Mobley had 28 (including 6-for-10 from deep), Adams 20. Between them, they made at least three of their treys from beyond 30 feet -- one was from 40 at the end of a shot-clock situation. One other Bonnie had seven points and no one after that had more than four. Mobley played all 40 minutes. Allen played 38.

STAGGERING STATISTIC: UF, despite a significant size advantage, had just a 28-26 advantage of points in the paint -- the Bonnies won the second-chance points 17-12 -- and four of them came on those two dunks at the end of the game. The Gators' two best post men, Egbunu and Kevarrius Hayes, were a combined 2-for-13 from the floor, but Big John, at 2-for-10 for the night, picked a good moment to get that second basket.

UP NEXT: Florida (3-0) will be in Tampa on Monday night to face Belmont (0-1), which plays Western Kentucky on Saturday night then heads south. The Bruins' lone outing so far was an 80-66 loss at crosstown foe Vanderbilt. All you need to know about how Belmont plays is it took 41 3-point shots in the game against the Commodores. And while the Bruins only made nine, they're capable of making a lot more and, no doubt, will get off the bus at Amalie Arena ready to launch.