Senior point guard Chris Chiozza (left), junior swingman Jalen Hudson (center) and grad forward Egor Koulechov (right) talk St. Bonaventure during their media session Wednesday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Gators Braced for Bonnies' Bombing Backcourt
Thursday, March 15, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Florida's opening-round NCAA foe is a familiar one.
That's when White was asked if he expected to see another pair of shot-making guards comparable to Adams and Mobley over the course of the season.
"I hope not," White said.
No, he just had to wait until this season. In the NCAA Tournament, no less.
And the same two guys.
The sixth-seeded Gators (20-12), back in the NCAA field for a second straight year, will reacquaint themselves with the Bonnies (26-7) Thursday night, only this time in the do-or-die circumstances of the NCAA East Region at American Airlines Center. St. Bonaventure got here by gutting out a 65-58 defeat of UCLA in Tuesday's so-called "play-in" game in Dayton, Ohio, on a rare night that Adams and Mobley, one of the top backcourt pairings in the nation, struggled to hit shots.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's 'Pregame Stuff' setup here]
That wasn't the case Nov. 17, 2016 in Lakeland. Back in Gainesville, the O'Connell Center was in the final two months of its renovations, and the Gators, after two games in Jacksonville, were on the second stop of their barn-storming tour of home-away-from-home-games across the state. For the first time in nearly 37 years, UF played in Lakeland. Unfortunately, two nights earlier, a circus had played the arena — and left behind some remnants.
Namely, horseflies.
"They were the biggest flies I'd ever seen. And the slowest," Florida point guard Chris Chiozza recalled. "When we went there for shoot-around, the first guy put up a shot and a bunch dead flies fell off the rim and onto the floor. They were everywhere."
But the real pests of the day turned out to be Mobley and Adams, who combined to hit 17 of 37 field-goal attempts and score 48 points, along the way making some circus-type shots (through the flies and all), including a ridiculous 40-foot, late-shot clock pull-up by Adams. The Gators actually led by 15, before the Bonnies staged a rally and tied the game in the final minute.
Defense and dunks (thundering ones by Devin Robinson and John Egbunu) helped seal the deal, but SBU's dynamic duo left a lasting impression on the Gators, who weren't at all surprised the Bonnies got the better of the Bruins Tuesday.
"One of the things that stuck out after the game [last season] was their talent level [and] how good they were offensively. They could really score," White said. "And just how tough they were, and how hard they played, and I thought that was shown again [against UCLA]."
In beating the Bruins, St. Bonaventure set a school record for wins in a season, breaking the mark of 25 set by the 1970 team, led by future Hall-of-Famer Bob Lanier, that went to the program's only Final Four. Along the way, Adams and Mobley both were named to the All-Atlantic 10 Conference first team. Against the Bruins, though, the two went just six of 28 from the floor (and 2-for-12 from deep) and combined for only 22 points. Instead, SBU got 26 points from workmanlike forward Courtney Stockard. Adams, however, eventually was heard from. Though he missed 15 of his first 16 shots, he drained a huge 3 late in the game.
A few minutes later, the Bonnies were celebrating their first NCAA victory since that Final Four run 48 years ago.
"It's all kind of new to all of us," Adams said. "We're just taking it all in."
SBU flew out of Ohio after the game early Wednesday morning, arrived in Dallas around 3:30 a.m., and did not check into the team hotel until 4:45. Twelve hours later, they were at the arena doing interviews.
"Best flight I've ever had at 2 a.m.," said Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt, adding his team will have a built-in advantage having already played a tournament game. "You have first-game jitters. We had them last night, but I doubt that we're going to have them again. I would think Florida would have more jitters than we have. Plus, we're coming off a victory. We have momentum. Our guys are feeling good about themselves."
And they're ready now to put Florida on a season's trophy mantle that already includes wins over UCLA, Rhode Island, Maryland and Syracuse.
"We don't look at it like a David-and-Goliath type thing," Stockard said. "It's a five-on-five game."
And if the Gators hit offensive cold snaps, play loose with the ball, and fail to get back in defensive transition (like they did in their lackluster loss to Arkansas in the sec Tournament last Friday), the Bonnies will make them pay. In fact, that's pretty much how some prominent talking heads see the game playing out.
UF's players were treated Wednesday to a mini-montage of college basketball analysts picking the Gators for a quick flame-out.
* TBS' Seth Davis: "The winner of the Bonaventure-UCLA game will beat Florida. … Both Bonaventure and UCLA have better guards."
* NCAA's Andy Katz: "I love the Bonnie guards. I think they knock off Florida."
* SEC Network's Jimmy Dykes: "Everything I saw in St. Louis ... they're inconsistent. I don't think they play hard consistently for 40 minutes. I don't think they're really connected defensively. I think they rely far too much on the 3-point shot. When you describe your team in March and you have to use the word 'inconsistent,' that is not a recipe for advancing in this tournament. … And I don't know how tough they are."
Come what may, the college basketball-watching world will find out Thursday night.
This time, in a no-flies zone.
"They're a very physical and aggressive team on both ends, and they're great in transition," Chiozza said. "You can't play soft against them."
Players Mentioned
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