At the Buzzer: Florida 84, Wisconsin 83 in OT (Instant Breakdown)
Saturday, March 25, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Chris Chiozza put his name in NCAA Tournament lore with his 3-pointer at the horn to send Gators to Elite Eight.
AT THE BUZZER
FLORIDA 84, WISCONSIN 83 (OVERTIME)
WHAT HAPPENED: They don't call it "At the Buzzer" for nothin'. UF junior guard Chris Chiozza went the length of the floor with four seconds left and let fly a 3-pointer that swished at the horn of the first overtime early Saturday morning to send the fourth-seeded Gators past the eighth-seeded Badgers in the NCAA East Region and into the Elite Eight. Chiozza's shot came after Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left. UF had no timeouts, so the Gators inbounded the ball to Chiozza, who zipped up the court and into Florida basketball and NCAA history. Minutes earlier, it was Chiozza who was victimized by a prayer when UW guard Zak Showalter hit a desperation 3 with 2.5 seconds left to tie the game at 72 and complete a Wisconsin comeback from eight points down with 1:44 to go. Chiozza then returned the favor. Sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen, after a maddening slow start, set a UF record for points in an NCAA Tournament game, pouring in a career-high 35 and was the only Gator to finish in double figures, compared to all five UW starters getting there, led by 22 points from Hayes. Chiozza had eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators are in the Elite Eight for the ninth time in school history, for the seventh time since 2006 and fifth time over the last seven seasons. Florida's 27 wins represents the fifth-most in school history, bested only by the 29 of the 1994, 2000, 2011 and '13 squads, the 33 in '06 and '35 in '07 during the back-to-back NCAA title seasons, and the school-record 36 in 2014.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Chiozza is the obvious choice here, but the Gators aren't in the position to win without Allen, who made his first shot, then missed his next eight and was 2-for-10 from the floor halfway through the first period, bringing to mind his 3-for-21 numbers from the regional last weekend in Orlando. But it was Allen who igniteed a 21-8 blitz to close the first half and erase an 11-point deficit, including six free throws, all drawn by a pair of head-fakes on 3-point shots. He finished with 15 points in the first half and 20 in the second and overtime. Allen was 11-for-24 on the floor, hit four 3s and was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Someone compute the odds of that last shot going in, please.
UP NEXT: The Gators (27-8) will take on seventh-seeded South Carolina (24-10), now the Cinderella of the tournament, in an All-SEC East Region title game Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four next weekend in Glendale, Ariz. The Gamecocks destroyed No. 3-seed Baylor 70-50 in the evening's early game. The Florida-South Carolina game will be the first NCAA Tournament game between two SEC teams since LSU defeated Kentucky in the Southeast regional final in 1986.
FLORIDA 84, WISCONSIN 83 (OVERTIME)
WHAT HAPPENED: They don't call it "At the Buzzer" for nothin'. UF junior guard Chris Chiozza went the length of the floor with four seconds left and let fly a 3-pointer that swished at the horn of the first overtime early Saturday morning to send the fourth-seeded Gators past the eighth-seeded Badgers in the NCAA East Region and into the Elite Eight. Chiozza's shot came after Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left. UF had no timeouts, so the Gators inbounded the ball to Chiozza, who zipped up the court and into Florida basketball and NCAA history. Minutes earlier, it was Chiozza who was victimized by a prayer when UW guard Zak Showalter hit a desperation 3 with 2.5 seconds left to tie the game at 72 and complete a Wisconsin comeback from eight points down with 1:44 to go. Chiozza then returned the favor. Sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen, after a maddening slow start, set a UF record for points in an NCAA Tournament game, pouring in a career-high 35 and was the only Gator to finish in double figures, compared to all five UW starters getting there, led by 22 points from Hayes. Chiozza had eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators are in the Elite Eight for the ninth time in school history, for the seventh time since 2006 and fifth time over the last seven seasons. Florida's 27 wins represents the fifth-most in school history, bested only by the 29 of the 1994, 2000, 2011 and '13 squads, the 33 in '06 and '35 in '07 during the back-to-back NCAA title seasons, and the school-record 36 in 2014.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Chiozza is the obvious choice here, but the Gators aren't in the position to win without Allen, who made his first shot, then missed his next eight and was 2-for-10 from the floor halfway through the first period, bringing to mind his 3-for-21 numbers from the regional last weekend in Orlando. But it was Allen who igniteed a 21-8 blitz to close the first half and erase an 11-point deficit, including six free throws, all drawn by a pair of head-fakes on 3-point shots. He finished with 15 points in the first half and 20 in the second and overtime. Allen was 11-for-24 on the floor, hit four 3s and was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Someone compute the odds of that last shot going in, please.
UP NEXT: The Gators (27-8) will take on seventh-seeded South Carolina (24-10), now the Cinderella of the tournament, in an All-SEC East Region title game Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Final Four next weekend in Glendale, Ariz. The Gamecocks destroyed No. 3-seed Baylor 70-50 in the evening's early game. The Florida-South Carolina game will be the first NCAA Tournament game between two SEC teams since LSU defeated Kentucky in the Southeast regional final in 1986.
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