Gators Celebrate 3-Point Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge

Wednesday, January 25

Baton Rouge, LA

9 PM

Florida Gators

106

LSU

Freshman guard Eric Hester holds his follow through after one of his five 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 17 points Wednesday at LSU.

Gators Celebrate 3-Point Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge

Thursday, January 26, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Gallery by Tim Casey & Greenberry Taylor

UF struck for a school-record 19 makes from the 3-point arc in blowing out LSU 106-71.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. — A laundry list of jaw-dropping statistical data popped up during Wednesday night's volcanic-like eruption of offense by the Florida Gators, but there was one unofficial stat that might have been every bit as important to the as the gawdy ones that stuffed the box score and showed on the post-game notes.

Most smiles by this UF team.

"We came in here wanting to play together and play for each other and that's what happened," junior point guard Chris Chiozza said. "That's when basketball is really fun. When everybody is at their best."

And everybody is making shots. Especially 3-pointers. In this case, a school-record 19.

Junior forward Devin Robinson scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead six teammates into double figures and the 25th-ranked Gators to 106-71 annihilation of LSU at Maravich Assembly Center that marked the program's most lopsided home loss in 54 years. Robinson's big night included five 3-point shots, an output equaled by little-used guard freshman Eric Hester, who went 5-for-5 from deep on his way to a career-high 16 points. Junior forward Justin Leon (15 points) and Chiozza (9 points, 5 rebounds, career-high 10 assists) also hit three treys each, as UF finished 19-for-33 from the arc (57.6 percent) to snap a two-game losing streak that began exactly one week ago when the Gators (15-5, 6-2) infamously went 0-for-17 in a 57-53 loss at South Carolina.

"It's crazy," Florida coach Mike White said of his team's 3-point barrage. "I wish we could trade a couple."

If only.

Instead, the Gators had to settle for the most points by a UF team in a Southeastern Conference game in 46 years; since a 106-86 defeat of Ole Miss on Jan. 25, 1971. The 19 treys broke the previous mark of 18 set against Robert Morris on Dec. 30, 1996, the first season under former Coach Billy Donovan. In steamrolling to a 58-33 first-half lead, thanks to 11-for-14 marksmanship (73.3 percent) from deep, the Gators put up more points in an opening period than at any time during the 19-year Donovan era. At one point, from the 13-minute mark of the first half to 23 seconds into the second half, Florida hit 10 straight attempts from downtown.

Center John Egbunu chipped in 15 points, guard KeVaughn Allen had 11 and backup post man Kevarrius Hayes had 12 points off the bench to round out the double-digit guys in blue.

"We came in focused on the right things," Robinson said. "We defended better, we didn't force any shots and we just played the right way. When the ball started falling, we just got on a roll."

And the Tigers (9-10, 1-7), last in the league in scoring and field-goal defense, rolled over in a sixth straight defeat.

"We certainly owe our fans an apology who came out to watch us or who had an opportunity to witness through TV or radio or however," LSU coach Johnny Jones said after the program suffered its worst home defeat since a 99-64 beating by Mississippi State on Feb. 23, 1964, four years before legend "Pistol Pete" Maravich played his first game as a Tiger. "We were not competitive."

The Gators had something to do with that. They arrived here still smarting from Saturday's home loss to Vanderbilt, which came to Gainesville resting near the bottom of the league standings. White spent the ensuing days urging (maybe even ordering) his players to return to the rugged, defensive mindset they displayed earlier in the season. That was to be UF's identity over the course of the year and the Gators had gotten away from it.

This time out, though, Florida was on point and communicating on defense from the start and over the course of the night held LSU's leading scorer, shooting guard Antonio Blakeney, to just four points, nearly 15 below his season's average, on 2-for-10 shooting.

Florida had eight players make more than Blakeney's two field goals.

"We needed a game like this," Robinson said.

The Gators led just 11-10 when they took off on a 14-2 run that featured four 3-pointers over a two-minute span and put the first wave of separation between the visitors and host Tigers. Those four 3-balls started the run of 10 straight makes from distance, while the Gators held LSU to 37 percent from the field and just 1-for-9 from deep through the first 20 minutes.

UF shot 58 percent for the half, that insane 73.3 from deep, and sank nearly 79 percent of its free throws.

Too bad forward Canyon Barry, the team's second-leading scorer, was sidelined with a sprained ankle, right?

"Man, I don't know what happened, but I do know when we had open shots and nobody hesitated," Chiozza said. "We had a great first half and we continued it into the second half. Nobody got selfish."

Indeed, the second half was more of the same, what with Hester, the rookie who didn't even play in five of the first seven SEC games, draining all four of his 3s, as the Gators' lead swelled to as many as 39 late in the game.

"I just want to thank my teammates," said Hester, whose 17 points were one more than the 16 he'd totaled through the previous 19 games. "It feels great. We were just sharing the ball."

Sharing the fun, too.

When it was over, the Gators — despite a difficult past week — sat just one game behind fourth-ranked Kentucky (and a half-game behind second-place and 23rd-ranked South Carolina) in the SEC standings.

Given the mood in the post-game locker room, they easily topped the league in smiles, too.

"I just think good things happen to guys who are trying to do the right thing and playing the right way and are focused on doing their jobs," White said. "When they're helping their teammates become better than themselves."

If that's to be the standard moving on, Wednesday night set the bar really high.