Late Surge Lifts Gators Over Mad-Bombing Bonnies

Thursday, November 17

Lakeland, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

St. Bonaventure

Junior forward Devin Robinson's dunk with 13 seconds left put the finishing touches -- and exclamation point -- on Florida's defeat Thursday night of St. Bonaventure. (Photo: Mackenzie Meyer/For UAA Communications)

Late Surge Lifts Gators Over Mad-Bombing Bonnies

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

Box Score Photo Gallery by MacKenzie Meyer & Tim Casey

UF outscored St. Bonaventure 7-0 over the final 58 seconds to win in Lakeland.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

LAKELAND, Fla. — Mike White had watched his team's 15-point second-half lead get wiped out, partly because the Florida Gators had been careless with the ball on offense, but mostly because St. Bonaventure's two guards, Matt Mobley and Jaylen Adams, weren't just scoring at will, but from wherever.

And then, White looked on as the Bonnies fired the ball around the perimeter until Adams, who earlier in the game nailed a 40-footer, had a wide-open look at a 3-ball from the corner.

"My stomach hurt," White said.

It felt better after the ball caromed high and into the hands of senior forward Canyon Barry, whose two free throws with just over 58 seconds gave UF a precarious two-point lead against the mad-bombing Bonnies. And yet, the next two possessions brought another missed 3 that turned into a run-out dunk for the Gators, then a steal and another run-out dunk — two slams in 14 seconds — and Florida escaped the Lakeland Center with a tummy-churning 73-66 victory Thursday night before a crowd of 4,133.

Barry had 16 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen had 16 points also. Forward Devin Robinson hit all six of shots on the way to 14 points and seven rebounds. John Egbunu had a rough night offensively (2-for-10 from the floor, 5 turnovers), but finished with eight points a game-high 10 rebounds. Together with the rest of the Gators (3-0) it was enough to offset the two-headed monster of Mobley and Adams, who finished with 28 and 20 points, respectively, and combined to hit 17 of 37 shots and nine of 22 from beyond the arc.

"The coaches told us they could shoot it, but man … ," Robinson said.

Yeah, what he said.

St. Bonaventure guard Matt Mobley proved a tough cover for the Gators on Thursday. Here he gets off one of his dozen 3-pointers, this one against UF guard Chris Chiozza, on his way to going 6-for-12 from deep and finishing with a game-high 28 points.

In both halves, the Gators opened up double-digit leads and appeared on the way to taking the game out. Each time the Bonnies (1-1), co-champions of the rugged Atlantic 10 Conference last season, shot their way back into the game. Sometimes with ridiculous end-of-shot-clock makes from well beyond the 3-point arc.

"We do a lot of switching," White said of his defense. "At times it backfired on us tonight."

UF led 20-8 at the 11-minute mark of the first half, but the Bonnies whittled away to close within 31-30 — along the way, Adams made that 40-footer as the shot clock expired — with under four minutes left before the Gators inched it to six by halftime.

A trio 3-pointers by Barry over a 70-second spurt in the second half accounted for the bulk of an 11-0 run that pushed Florida up 60-45 with 11:24 remaining. Timeout, Bonaventure.

Then came 12 straight points by the Bonnies, including a trey each from Adams and Mobley. At one point the Gators went seven straight possessions where they missed two shots and turned it over five of their 17 times for the game (compared to just 10 assists). It was ugly basketball.

"I thought 30 of the 40 minutes we were pressing offensively, trying to hit grand slams," White said. "We're searching a little bit offensively right now."

Added Robinson: "We started rushing a little on offense. We saw the defense rubbing up and tried to maybe make some extra plays, some jump passes, dribbling into traffic, but that's kind of stuff that you just can't do."

Up by three and just under two minutes to go, point guard Kasey Hill (4 points, 4 assists, 5 turnovers) drove to the right side of the basket, was challenged by his defender and reared about to throw a pass to a teammate at the top of the key. The ball, though, went right into the hands of Mobley, who took it coast-to-coast, made the layup, got fouled and hit the ensuing free throw to tie the score at 66 with 1:42 remaining.

The Bonnies had all the momentum. And confidence, it seemed.

"You have to give them credit for playing tough the whole game and constantly clawing back, never folding even when they were down a lot," Barry said. "But for us to come together and finish out a close game like that against a team like that, I think it speaks volume about the team we can be."

After the Mobley make, Egbunu missed at shot at UF's end, setting the Bonnies up to take their first lead since the opening minutes. That's when Adams was off on his 3-ball from the corner and Barry gathered a strong two-handed rebound in traffic, was fouled in the backcourt and hit both his underhanded free throws at the other end with 58.1 showing on the clock. Gators by two.

Still, a 3 could give the Bonnies the lead, but the Gators overplayed at the arc and Mobley forced one contested by Hill. Underneath, it was the 6-foot Chris Chiozza (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) who pulled down the defensive rebound, took the ball into the corner, then fired a left-handed pass upcourt to Robinson, who shoveled a pass to Egbunu for a throw-down with 27 seconds left and four-point lead.

Bonaventure opted to bypass a timeout and play on. Again, it was Chiozza with the savvy and heady play. He forced Mobley to drive too deep left toward the baseline and when the Bonnies guard tried to fire the ball out of traffic, Chiozza tipped it, gathered it and spun the ball upcourt to Robinson for a second high-flying finish -- this one with 13 seconds left, for a six-point lead and to a thunderous roar from the UF fans on hand.

UF center John Egbunu throws down his dunk with 37 seconds that put the Gators up by four.

"Credit our guys for being resilient, for showing a little character and a little maturity," White said; "That game was tied and could very easily have gone the other way, but we made some big defensive plays down the stretch."

Against the bombing Bonnies, they needed to.

White was asked if he expects to see another pair of shot-making guards this season like Mobley and Adams. "It's early," he said. "But I hope not."

A stomach can only take so much.