At the Buzzer: Florida 72, James Madison 63 (Instant Analysis)
Wednesday, December 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
The Gators got a nice all-around game from Chris Chiozza to beat the Dukes.
FLORIDA 72, JAMES MADISON 63
WHAT HAPPENED: Senior point guard Chris Chiozza scored 19 points and junior shooting guard KeVaughn Allen was good for 17 more, as the Gators got all they wanted from the Dukes before a late run of nine straight points by the home team let it escape the Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center with a win. UF led by just five, at 57-52, after a 3-point shot Ramone Snowden with 7:29 to go. Out of timeout, though, Chiozza found Jalen Hudson over the top of the JMU defense for a 3-pointer that started the 9-0 spree and pushed the Gators ahead by 14 with just over five to go. The Gators finished from there. In addition to leading his team in scoring, Chiozza also had a game-high of seven assists, plus six rebounds and and did not turn the ball over.
WHAT IT MEANS: One win in a row against an overmatched opponent, nothing more. And not a particularly impressive win, either. UF has still dropped four of the last six and is just 3-3 against so-called high-major opponents. That means four of seven wins have come against mid- or low-majors (as well as one loss).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: He's had more picturesque games, but it was good to see Allen put some numbers in the scoring column after totaling just 22 over the previous three games. Allen, the team's second-best free-throw shooter at 88.2 percent coming, had attempted only three free throws over the previous three games combined, a stat that spoke directly to his aggression over that span. He had two in the first 62 seconds against the Dukes, though. He went on to make five of 10 field goals, including three of seven from deep, plus four of five free throws to go with two rebounds and three assists.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Though not as big as UF, James Madison matched the Gators 22-all in points in the paint, many of them on straight-line drives to the rack. Issues with the defense are still there ... and probably are not going away anytime soon.
UP NEXT: The Gators (7-4) are back on the O'Dome floor Friday night against Incarnate Word (5-4) in the final game before the team breaks for Christmas, as well as its final non-league date. UF will have three days off, starting Saturday, and report back next Tuesday night and look to the Dec. 30 Southeastern Conference against Vanderbilt.
