Point guard Chris Chiozza was outstanding in all phases of Saturday's win over Baylor.
Hoops Hodgepodge 5
Sunday, January 28, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
A weekly scattershot look at UF basketball.
No. 20 Florida 81, Baylor 60
Three leftover thoughts from Saturday's home win in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
1) Florida took a double-digit lead on Baylor barely six minutes into the game. Only four times the rest of the afternoon did the margin dip below 10 points, and just once in the second half. The Gators dominated their SEC/Big 12 meeting with the Bears from the opening tip, with senior point guard Chris Chiozza stealing the show. Chiozza was the pacemaker, and the Bears could not keep pace. That included his counterpart, point guard Manu Lecomte, who was limited to 11 first-half minutes after being whistled for three fouls, mostly trying to guard the UF "Flash." Chiozza's first half digits: 15 points, 5-for-7 from the floor, 3-for-5 from the 3-point line, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, as the Gators built an 11-point lead at the break. As Baylor coach Scott Drew said afterward, it's hard enough to game-plan for Chiozza, the facilitator, much less when he's scoring, also. Chiozza's 20 points were the second-most he'd ever scored, behind only the career-best 26 against Gonzaga in November. What a season he's having; a first-team All-Southeastern Conference kind of season (at the very least), while leading a club that sits alone in second place in the league standings with 10 games to go (five at home, five on the road). Chiozza tops the SEC in assists with 129 versus just 37 turnovers. Over the last 11 games, he has only 12 turnovers. I've never been very good at math, but I think that's around one per game. Maybe a hair more. UF's 212 turnovers are far and away the fewest in the league. Chiozza is the reason.
2) The Bears rotated four "bigs" that went 7 feet, 6-9, 6-9 and 6-8, respectively. Each played at least 15 minutes, three played at least 20. The Gators had just two such bigs in those parameters, but one of them was 6-9 junior Kevarrius Hayes, who had just five points and three rebounds, but did his "Spidey" thing by running the floor and providing energy and bounce down low. Hayes blocked five shots. Of his three rebounds, two were on the offensive glass. He also had a pair of steals in 23 minutes. That's four extra possessions right there. He probably wasn't a guy the sellout crowd was talking about as it filed from Exactech Arena, but the coaches were talking about him and the job he did helping neutralize Baylor's 7-foot aircraft carrier Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.
3) The overall results of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge provided further validation of how much better the SEC is this season than in the recent past. Not that we needed the proof, but the SEC's 6-4 edge came against the conference that currently tops all the metrics that measure the overall strengths of individual leagues (most such computations have the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast ranked 1 and 2, with either the SEC or Big East at 3 and 4, depending on the service). In the previous four events, the Big 12 won the aggregate matchups by counts of 7-3 in 2013, 6-4 in 2014 and 7-3 in 2016, with 2017 ending in a 5-5 stalemate. The SEC won the 2018 battle with the team currently atop the league standings, Auburn, not even invited to participate, and with its last-place team, Vanderbilt, winning its matchup against Texas Christian. The folks at the home office in Birmingham, Ala., will be smiling Monday.
EGBUNU IMPROVING, BUT NOT THERE YET
Yes, that was graduate center John Egbunu taking pre-game warm-up reps against both South Carolina and Baylor. On Saturday, Egbunu dressed in full uniform, including knee brace, and stayed that way on the bench for the entire game, as he cheered on his teammates.
Here we are, at the late-January marker that was supposed to bring Egbunu's return from the knee injury that ended his 2017 season last Valentine's Day at Auburn. The timeline has remained consistent, but so has UF trainer David "Duke" Werner's thoughts that it possibly could take more time before the 6-foot-11, 255-pounder finally takes the floor. Big men and reconstructive knee surgeries are tough.
He will not play Tuesday night at Georgia. Or Saturday at home against Alabama.
Egbunu is running the floor and doing some team drills during practice, but he has yet to take part in any full-contact stuff. He's still receiving treatment daily and has been tremendous in weight room with strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene.
These are positive developments. Taking part in warm-ups, which constitute an extra opportunity to get a workout in, is a step forward, as well.
For now (and for this week), though, the Egbunu situation remains status quo.
CHARTING THE GATORS
With Florida's win over Baylor, the Gators and Bears now share the best record among teams that have participated in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge all five years. Here's hoping both leagues opt to re-up with ESPN and keep this thing cool midseason event going. The decision to move the games from December to the weekend between the NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl was a marketing stroke of genius. It's a full day of some really good basketball you would normally not pay anywhere near the attention to were they being staged two months earlier. Here's a look at how all 24 teams -- the 14 from the SEC and 10 from Big 12 -- have combined to fare in the cross-sectional conference "Challenge" over the years.
| Team | Conference | Record | Highlight |
| Alabama | SEC | 2-0 | 2018: Beat No. 12 Oklahoma, held nation's scoring lead Trae Young to 17 points. |
| Florida | SEC | 4-1 | 2013: No. 19 Gators beat No. 13 Kansas with Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, Frank Mason |
| Baylor | Big 12 | 4-1 | 2013: No. 20 Bears beat No. 4 Kentucky at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas |
| Kansas | Big 12 | 4-1 | 2017: No. 2 Jayhawks upset No. 4 Kentucky at Rupp. |
| Tennessee | SEC | 3-1 | 2018: Held Iowa State to 45 points at home. |
| Kansas State | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2018: Held Georgia to 51 points on the road. |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2016: Buddy Hield's 32 points, eight 3s, bombed Ben Simmons and LSU at Baton Rouge. |
| Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2017: No. 9 Cowboys routed Arkansas by 28. |
| Texas | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2016: Longhorns withstood a big game from Vandy 7-foot center Damian Jones. |
| Texas Christian | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2016: Beat Ole Miss in final non-conference game played at "Tad" Pad. |
| Texas Tech | Big 12 | 3-2 | 2018: Won at South Carolina three days after Gamecocks upset Gators on the road. |
| Arkansas | SEC | 2-2 | 2018: Daniel Gafford's tip-in with 16.2 seconds left gave Hogs 66-65 win. |
| Missouri | SEC | 1-1 | 2013: Beat West Virginia at home. |
| Kentucky | SEC | 2-3 | 2018: Stormed back from 17 down to beat No. 7 WVU on the road behind 34 points from Kevin Knox. |
| Iowa State | SEC | 2-3 | 2014: Defeated No. 18 Arkansas at home. |
| Vanderbilt | SEC | 2-3 | 2018: Commodores, losers of five of six, rallied to beat TCU. |
| Georgia | SEC | 1-2 | 2017: Yante Maten led Bulldogs past Texas. |
| LSU | SEC | 1-2 | 2014: Josh Gray's layup with 7.6 seconds left shocked WVU at Morgantown. |
| South Carolina | SEC | 1-2 | 2015: Demolished OSU by 26 at Columbia. |
| Auburn | SEC | 1-3 | 2017: Tigers got 25 from center Austin Wiley in win at TCU. |
| Texas A&M | SEC | 1-3 | 2016: Beat No. 14 Iowa State at home en route to sharing SEC regular-season title. |
| West Virginia | Big 12 | 1-4 | 2017: Lone win came at home against A&M. |
| Mississippi State | SEC | 0-1 | 2013: Being invited to participate. |
| Ole Miss | SEC | 0-5 | None. |
UF ALUM UPDATE
Making his 5th #NBAAllStar appearance... @Al_Horford of the @celtics! #Celtics #AlHorford pic.twitter.com/XYPbfUFP4Q
— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 24, 2018
Making his FIRST #NBAAllStar appearance... @RealDealBeal23 of the @WashWizards! #DCFamily #BradleyBeal pic.twitter.com/lXi25pvDO7
— 2018 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 24, 2018
This was an easy choice. Or choices, rather.
Last week, the rosters of reserves for the NBA All-Star Game, set for Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, was announced, with both Boston forward Al Horford and Washington guard Bradley Beal getting the nod. It was the fifth selection for Horford, though his first as a Celtic, and the first for Beal, who is having a career year to the point that the right people took notice.
Beal, who following his 2011-12 freshman season became just the second "one-and-done" in UF history, is just the fourth Gator to be honored as an all-star. Besides Horford (2010-11, 2015-16 with Atlanta), the other two were center Joakim Noah (twice for Chicago in 2013-14) and center David Lee (for New York in 2010, then Golden State in '13).It'll mark the second time two Gators will be playing in the same all-star game.
Horford is averaging 13.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, while shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and 43.5 from deep for the Celtics, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Beal, now in his sixth season since being taken by the Wizards with the No. 3 overall pick, is scoring 24.0 points per game, shooting 46.2 overall and 37.4 from 3. Three times this season, he's scored at least 40 points, including a career-high 51 in a win at Portland.
If one of them has a big night Feb. 18 at Staples Center, they may show up in this space again.
Congrats, Al and Brad!
PERSPECTIVE POLICE BEAT(i.e. "Twitter Patter")
Coaches are held accountable. Players are held accountable. Even senior writers are held accountable. This space is dedicated to holding the fans (and fan boys) on Twitter accountable. At times, we'll also recognize those who "get it" and acknowledge those who offer entertaining social media fodder, or (God forbid) the proper perspective. [Note: If you're completely unreasonable and wonder why you don't show up here, it's probably because you've been muted or blocked, and thus in "Perspective Prison." I'm the cop, judge, jury, warden and/or executioner of that legal system, by the way.]
No argument here.Based on todays effort, and the effort in Oregon, I gotta conclude there is magic in the PK80 unis ??????
— Paul Edelstein (@G8RPaul) January 27, 2018
Only tweets at me after losses. One of those who loves to complain, loves to be miserable, suffers winning (you know the type). Not a peep from him Saturday.Horribly coached Gator team tonight. Let's walk it back up down by 7 - this team has got to push the ball. No respect for USC shooter.
— Shane best (@Gatorbest96) January 25, 2018
You were exactly right. Baylor did not feel sorry for them. Or vice versa.This might be most frustrated I been watching Gators this season. Only the beginning of 2nd half did we look like ourselves. The rest of the game , gators were outworked and outplayed. Baylor will not feel sorry for us on Saturday. Time to go back drawing boards.
— James Peach (@peachy5212) January 25, 2018
Hmmm. So what are the wins "attributable" to? Last time I checked, Coach White attends all games.The more I watch this team the less I see of any strategy or game plan. I like Coach White, but he needs to start showing some guidance here. The losses are attributable to being outcoached. We don't seem to be able to respond.
— jactrack (@loge23) January 26, 2018
Is he related to the Marquis de Sade. And I've never heard of "Coach Pitno."I'm very disappointed need a Marquis Coach. Hire Coach Pitno
— Clarence Richard (@RichardNolanr33) January 25, 2018
Good question. White was asked about it the morning after the South Carolina game. He explained the plan out of the timeout was to foul, and that the Gators missed their opportunity to foul the guy they wanted to foul. "We were all on the same page coming out of the timeout. We just didn't foul him." Fouled a good free-throw shooter, instead. Called it a "discipline error."@GatorsChris Can someone explain why did Gators foul with 39sec left and the shot clock was down tot 20 for USCe in a 3pt game, why not play possession out and have possibly 19 seconds left with ball down 3
— Cantrell Tyson (@Coach_CTyson) January 25, 2018
FREE THROWS
This week's Ratings Percentage Index watch finds Florida at No. 36, which is down 13 spots from the season-best 23rd of last Sunday following the win at Kentucky. UF still has five games remaining against teams currently in the RPI Top 25: home against Auburn (5th) and Kentucky (11th), on the road at Tennessee (13th), plus home and road dates against Alabama (25th). ... With 14 makes from deep Saturday, the Gators have now made 10 or more 3s in 10 games, including 14 or more five times. ... Baylor's 60 points tied for the second-fewest UF had given up this season. The Gators held Incarnate Word to 54 and Mississippi State to 60. ... Chiozza, now with 492 career assists, is just two assists from moving past Eddie Shannon (1995-99) and into third place on UF's all-time list. Against Baylor, Chiozza's two steals allowed him to pass Andrew Moten (1983-87) and slide into eighth place in that category with 166. Two more and he'll supplant Scottie Wilbekin at No. 7 on the list. ... Junior guard KeVaughn Allen moved into 40th place on the school's all-time scoring list. With 10 points Saturday, Allen passed Al Bonner (1974-78) and now has 1,157 career points.
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