Say 'Cheese!' Chiozza Triple-Doubles Tigers in Third Straight Blowout

Thursday, February 2

Gainesville, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

Missouri

Point guard Chris Chiozza leads the break during Thursday night's 93-54 rout of Missouri.

Say 'Cheese!' Chiozza Triple-Doubles Tigers in Third Straight Blowout

Thursday, February 2, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Gallery by Tim Casey, Allison Curry, Britt Moore, & Kelly Streeter

Junior guard Chris Chiozza recorded just the fourth triple-double in UF history, finishing with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With just over 30 seconds to go Thursday night, Florida forward Devin Robinson took a pass from Chris Chiozza in transition. The Gators had a 36-point lead, but there was zero doubt what Robinson was going to do.

That's because moments earlier, with the UF bench all abuzz, Robinson had gone to Chiozza, his best buddy and classmate, and told him, "I want to make that shot for you."

And so it was ...

Swish!

Robinson's 3-ball was the final basket of a 93-54 hammering of Missouri before 10,153 at Exactech Arena, as the 24th-ranked Gators won a third straight game in blowout fashion. The story within the story, though, was Chiozza carding the fourth triple-double in UF basketball history, with 12 points, 12 rebounds and, thanks to Robinson's late long one, 10 assists. Chiozza joined Corey Brewer (once in 2005) and Nick Calathes (one in '08, another in '09) as the only Gators to put a triple-double in a Florida box score.

"It means a lot and I'm glad to have achieved that," Chiozza said. "But I'm happier that we got the win."

Yes, about that win. Make that three straight games the Gators (17-5, 7-2) have registered victory margins of at least 30 points, the third time that's happened in program history. UF by 35 at LSU and 32 at Oklahoma last week, and smashed Mizzou (5-16, 0-9) by now 39 for the most lopsided victory inside the new O'Dome, after five games of sub-standard defense on the home floor. The outcome left UF one game behind front-running Kentucky and South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference standings, with the No. 8 Wildcats coming to town Saturday night for a sold-out and prime-time ESPN showdown.

"We're in a good place," said UF coach Mike White, delighted that his club if finally get back to defending like it did earlier in the season. "I don't want to sit here and say how good we're going to play Saturday or how many games we're going to win. [This] doesn't guarantee anything. But these past few games have gotten us into a very good place, which gives us a chance to play well in the next one."

OK, now back to the last one.

"It was kind of like getting hit by a train," Missouri coach Kim Anderson said after a school-record 13th straight loss and 31st in a row at the road. "They're playing at a very high rate right now."

Chris Chiozza looks to pass against the Missouri defense.

The Gators scored on their first nine possessions of the game. The Tigers, meanwhile, went the first six-plus minutes without even grabbing a rebound. When they finally did, UF led 18-3. Then 35-9. Then 48-20 at halftime, thanks to 47-percent shooting, 23-percent defense and a plus-18 rebounding margin.

It was in the halftime locker room that Chiozza messed with a couple teammates. "I got like the first three rebounds of the game and I must have at least five, so just let me get the first three of this half and maybe I can get to 10."

He was joking of course, but actually Chiozza had seven rebounds at the time. Eight points and three assists, as well.

Chiozza got his 10th rebound with just over 10 minutes to go. He got his ninth and 10th points on a pair of free throws at the 9:30 mark. Hello, double-double.

He had seven assists at the time.

"Chris was amazing," White said of his playmaker who has 24 assists and just four turnovers during the three-game winning streak. "Obviously, it was his best game as a Gator. He's been a big X-factor in our last three games. He got us off to a great start at LSU with the way he shot the ball, he played well at Oklahoma, and he played incredible tonight and I'm happy for him. There have been games where he's probably deserved a few more minutes, but he's stayed the course and continued to work."

As such, the Florida coaches decided to go for it and try to reward their player. The entire bench knew it.

"It was great, the connection we all had," Robinson said. "No one was pouting about not being in the game. We all wanted to knock that shot down for him."

There were plenty of candidates. Four UF players found double-figures on the night, led by senior forward Canyon Barry's 17, plus 15 from sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen. Another four scored at least seven points. From White's standpoint, Florida's 56-32 edge on the glass helped fuel the energy on both ends, as six players grabbed at least four rebounds.

A 3-pointer by Barry off a pass from Chiozza with just over four minutes left was Assist No. 8. The ninth came on a wing feed and 3-ball sank by guard Eric Hester at the 2:18 mark. The bench was bouncing as it watched the final minutes tick off. So were the Rowdy Reptiles. Everyone in the house knew what was up when Robinson missed a 3 and Chiozza had a turnover with just over a minute left that Mizzou's Jordan Geist converted into a 3-pointer.

Then Florida came up the floor, Chiozza zipped a pass on the left wing to Robinson, who did not even think about it.

"I was going to let it fly, either way," he said.

As the ball fell through the basket, the O'Dome erupted, as did the Gators' sidelines.

"Monster performance!" junior center John Egbunu gushed afterward. "That was very cool. And for us to be a part of that was amazing."

What will be truly amazing for the Gators would be harnessing all the good of the last three games and, somehow, rolling it out again in less than 48 hours after walking off the floor Thursday.

But this one will be worth remembering. Certainly for a certain point guard.