Hayes, Defense Hold off Bulldogs

Saturday, February 18

Starkville, MS

2 PM

Florida Gators

Mississippi State

Kevarrius Hayes throws down during his all-around performance in Saturday's win at Mississippi State.

Hayes, Defense Hold off Bulldogs

Saturday, February 18, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Gallery by Blake Williams

New starting center Kevarrius Hayes made two huge plays in the final two minutes to help the Gators get a big road win.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Four nights earlier, the Florida Gators hit the road and played pinball on the Auburn Arena scoreboard en route to 114 points, the most in the history of the basketball program against a Southeastern Conference opponent.

Saturday, UF got half that at Mississippi State.

And won.

"We've been able to find different ways to win different games with different guys night in and night out," Coach Mike White said after the 15th-ranked Gators shook the Bulldogs in the final two minutes and escaped Humphrey Coliseum with a 57-52 victory. "This was another example."

Florida "A.J." (as in "After John") was tough to watch on the offensive end, but the Gators (22-5, 12-2) navigated their first game since the season-ending knee injury to starting center John Egbunu just enough to escape what could have been a debilitating defeat. Instead, UF won an eighth straight, remained in a tie with Kentucky for first place in the league standings and managed — minus their 6-foot-11, 255-pound man in the middle — to continue its stubborn defensive ways, holding the Bulldogs (14-12, 5-9) to 36 percent from the floor and the league's No. 3 shooting team from the 3-point line to just 2-for-23 from deep (8.7 percent).

As for offense?

"Obviously, we have some improvements to make," White said.

Shooting better than 38.5 percent from the floor, 27.8 from the 3-point line and reversing a gruesome five assists versus 16 turnovers (including nine by his point guards) will be at the top of the list.

Backup guard Chris Chiozza scored a team-best 14 points, but it was sophomore center Kevarrius Hayes, with his battlefield promotion to starter, who made huge plays on both ends down the stretch and saved his team. Hayes' final stat line showed nine points, a career-high 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, with his second of just two field goals putting the Gators ahead for good with 1:56 left and his blocked shot off a game-tying attempt by MSU guard I.J. Ready with 30 seconds remaining helping UF eventually seal the win with free throws.

"I tried not to make a big deal out of it," Hayes said of his new-found responsibility as the heir to Egbunu's big-man presence inside. "The only thing that was really different for me [was that] instead playing behind John, he's not with us now. I just tried to focus on playing smart, doing the best I can and staying out of foul trouble."

A scan of the final box score showed some bizarre statistics, starting with UF junior forward Devin Robinson held scoreless, but pulling down 10 rebounds, one short of his season high. Senior point guard Kasey Hill had just one assist and six turnovers, but his on-ball defense against MSU's guards was terrific and his nine points gave him 1,000 for his career. Forward Justin Leon hit just one of six shots, but knocked down a huge free throw late. Backup forward and leading scorer Canyon Barry had just seven points, more than half his average.

No matter. That's the because the other guys weren't scoring, either, which has been the identity of the Gators during their run of consecutive wins and will need to be even more so now sans Egbunu.

"We're a diverse team," Chiozza said. "We can have a game where we score a hundred points and have one where we play defense and hold them to [50]. We were fortunate to have our defense come on the road with us and hold them to 52 at home and a bad field-goal percentage. That's what we hang our hat on."

Junior guard Chris Chiozza cuts through the Mississippi State defense to spin in two of his team-best 14 points Saturday.

UF got off to a slow start and trailed by six points eight minutes into the game before going on a 28-11 run to finish the first half and lead 32-24 at the break. The Bulldogs, losers of four straight and now six of seven, went 0-for-13 from the 3-point line in the first half, but didn't go away.

The Gators were up 10 with less than 10 minutes left when Weatherspoon hit a 3-ball and got the home team and its crowd on a roll. MSU trimmed the margin to four, but UF got it back to seven before going cold with a 1-for-8 stretch that also included four straight possessions that ended in turnovers.

"Our defense was good enough today," MSU coach Ben Howland said.

Yes, it was.

But Florida's was better.

The Bulldogs used a mini-run of 9-2 to tie the game on a slam dunk by Aric Holman (8 points, 7 rebounds) with 2:23 to go. On Florida's ensuing possession, Hill pulled up for a jumper from just outside the free-throw line, but MSU guard Mario Kegler tipped it just enough to keep it from reaching the rim. In the scramble under the basket, Hayes emerged with the ball and converted a shot in traffic for a 54-52 lead at the 1:56 mark.

Next time down, Mississippi State guard Quinndary Weatherspoon (17 points) launched 3-pointer for the lead that bounced away. Then UF missed a shot on its turn and the Bulldogs called timeout with 42.9 seconds left.

Out of the stoppage, Ready attacked the UF defense and challenged Hayes by going down the left side of the lane. Ready's shot barely made it out of his hand before Hayes blocked it in wicked fashion.

"Just by practicing, that's the best way to explain it," said Hayes, the team leader with 45 blocks despite being eighth in minutes, when asked how he's developed his knack for the swat. "Especially within the new rules. You have to stay vertical."

Said White: "He was tremendous. And he played so hard."

Everybody in the UF road black uniforms did.

The block of Ready's shot landed in Leon's hands. He was fouled and made one of two free throws to take the lead to three. Weatherspoon, this time for the tie, again was off from the 3-point line and Hill got the rebound and made one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game.

Kegler's long miss with eight seconds left was cleared by Hayes and it was his turn to make one of two, finish the scoring and put a winning exclamation point on the end of a trying, draining week for he and his teammates.

"These guys are all very close to John, but they had to overcome those emotions and a really tough week and come out and defend at a really high level without seeing the ball through the net as much as the other day — or like they normally do," White said. "I'm really proud of their physical effort."