Florida vs. Wisconsin

[Deleted]

Mar 24, 2017 11:12:31 GMT -5 daleko said:

Mar 24, 2017 10:18:56 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

3.24.2017

Since UF's starting center John Egbunu was lost for the season on February 14, UF is 5-3 averaging 70 PPG while allowing 63.50 PPG. My prediction in line with what UF has averaged and recognizing that UF is coming in as a 2 point favorite:

Florida 70
Wisconsin 64

Minus the two bad matchup losses to Vandy in Nashville at Vandy and in the first round of the SEC tourney, UF has actually played pretty well considering both KeVaughn Allen and Canyon Barry have been in shooting slumps that they both could break out of tonight. My gut says Canyon Barry will prove to be the difference in the game, but KeVaughn Allen is overdue too.

Get your pick in before the game tonight.

I'm an admitted Wisky homer. I see the three Wisky forwards as having an advantage over FL. The guards a slight advantage. Coaching's even. Reserves adv FL, so your Berry comment may prove prescient. The team core has been to 2 final 4s and 2 S 16 games, that experience should help. Adv Wisky.  Both Ds are v good. Fl will have to double down on Happ and Hayes. If they don't Wisky will own the paint. Happ's that good. And w/o an aircraft carrier in the middle so is Hayes. If they do, then Wisky will have to hit 3s. That's been the Q this yr. If they don't FL should win by 10, maybe more. If they do, it'll be a close game w Wisky winning by 5. Wisky has to be up by a bit going to the last minute, given their poor FT %.  

I'll pick Wisky by 5. 70-65

I think UF's Hayes will have a go at Happ one on one. We'll bring in Gak and Rimmer behind him to try to keep him out of foul trouble. That's 15 fouls at the 5 and enough depth to wear on Happ. Overall, Happ is better than Hayes and far better than either of the backups, but I don't see him as strong of a threat as 6'10"/260 Bam Adabayo of UK who helped to prepare UF to play inside physical players. The kid from Arkansas was a heckuva inside player too. Hayes is more athletic than Happ so it should be a good matchup if he can avoid foul trouble. UF will need their 5 depth over the course of the game. It could come down to giving Happ his game to slow down the rest of the Wisky players. I'd be surprised if UF chose to double team Happ as he is such as good passer he'll get his assists finding the open players for easy shots.

Leon and Stone will both have a go at Nigel Hayes. Both are capable defenders at the 4 and both can score so Hayes will be pushed on both ends of the floor.

Wisky doesn't have a good matchup with Devin Robinson who is a projected NBA round 2 draft choice coming out as a junior. Iverson is too short and neither Brown nor Illikainen have the quickness to cover him.

Guards? I like UF's athleticism and quickness. Kasey Hill may be the fastest guard in the nation. Chris Chiozza is a heckuva backup PG in his own right. If Allen (SG) and Barry (SG/SF) both break out of their shooting slumps, this game could get out of hand in a bad way for Wisky.

Defensively, I think you'll see a lot of UF man to man, but you'll likely see more zone of the 1-3-1 variety with Leon on the point than double teaming. That zone has been effective in taking outside 3s away from the opposition. Koenig will have a harder time getting off his 3s confronted with 6'8" players in a zone who will contest his 3s. Koenig will likely get his points with UF playing man up. 

It's going to be a fun game to watch because of the contrasting styles of play. Whomever imposes their style of play over the other will win.

[mscott59]

That was quite a comeback in the last couple minutes and quite a shot by showwalter to out this into ot.

[mscott59]

Mar 24, 2017 23:38:43 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

That was quite a comeback in the last couple minutes and quite a shot by showwalter to out this into ot.

The discount double check move toward Rodgers was a nice touch too

[mscott59]

Mar 24, 2017 23:41:34 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Mar 24, 2017 23:38:43 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

That was quite a comeback in the last couple minutes and quite a shot by showwalter to out this into ot.

The discount double check move toward Rodgers was a nice touch too

Wow. UW takes control in it and the Barry kid makes the play of the game in a block to keep if in it.

[mscott59]

Mar 24, 2017 23:50:02 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Mar 24, 2017 23:41:34 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

The discount double check move toward Rodgers was a nice touch too

Wow. UW takes control in it and the Barry kid makes the play of the game in a block to keep if in it.

Hayes got away w a travel on that drive. Gets fouled w 0:04 left. He's been mediocre at the line. Hits both though. And if hits the same kind of 3 UW did to win it. Fantastic finish

[daleko]

Congrats to FL. Great game.

[mscott59]

Mar 24, 2017 23:52:44 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Mar 24, 2017 23:50:02 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Wow. UW takes control in it and the Barry kid makes the play of the game in a block to keep if in it.

Hayes got away w a travel on that drive. Gets fouled w 0:04 left. He's been mediocre at the line. Hits both though. And if hits the same kind of 3 UW did to win it. Fantastic finish

As bad a season as the sec had this year, its 3 best teams all make the elite 8. And 2 of the 3 big 10 teams who made the sweet 16 lose on the final shot. Tough way to end a season.

[Deleted]

Mar 24, 2017 23:53:28 GMT -5 daleko said:

Congrats to FL. Great game.

Thank you. I was getting ready to congratulate Wisky for a great comeback and win when UF had a great comeback and the win. You were right, the badger frontline dominated UF. Had KeVaughn Allen not had a UF record tourney game night, Wisky would have won. It took this game this deep into the tourney to have OT and a buzzer beater for the win. 

Next up is South Carolina for UF, a team UF went 1-1 against during the season.

[Deleted]

Mar 24, 2017 23:54:48 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Mar 24, 2017 23:52:44 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Hayes got away w a travel on that drive. Gets fouled w 0:04 left. He's been mediocre at the line. Hits both though. And if hits the same kind of 3 UW did to win it. Fantastic finish

As bad a season as the sec had this year, its 3 best teams all make the elite 8. And 2 of the 3 big 10 teams who made the sweet 16 lose on the final shot. Tough way to end a season.

Actually, the SEC is much improved in talent level and coaching. The 5 teams that made March Madness deserved it plus there were a couple of teams that were close to making it. UK got an historic whipping at UF and they had a bunch of games that were close throughout. I think John Calipari thinks the SEC is pretty good as a conference and much better than the negative perceptions. 

I thought Hayes traveled too, but the ref saw the foul being made before the travel. I also saw the refs letting Happ get away with using his arm to hook the defensive player on many of his drives. The kid is too good to get that advantage as well. 

[Mickey34jb]

Congrats to UF..not many schools can claim championships on the field and on the court..UF having a good run here..

[Deleted]

3.25.2017

This from Sports Illustrated - the writer left out Canyon Barry's block of Iverson's almost certain breakaway layup late in OT that made the UF comeback possible. Had Barry not made that block, the deficit would have been too big to overcome even with the buzzer beater. As it was, UF outscored Wisky 9-3 over the last 1:09 of OT to get the dramatic finish and win. Chris Chiozza in his post game on-court interview acknowledged Barry making the play (the block) of the game to save UF:

The tournament's first buzzer-beaters were worth the wait. Emphasis on the plural.

Down three in regulation, Wisconsin had possession with 6.5 seconds left against Florida. The Badgers' top clutch three-point threat, Bronson Koenig, was incapacitated by what looked like a pulled or cramped muscle in his leg. So the ball found its way to Zak Showalter on the inbounds, and the former walk-on hit a one-legged, game-tying shot from beyond the arc to send the game to overtime.

And after the shot, he turned in the direction one of the more notable Badgers fans in the crowd at Madison Square Garden.

And then Zak Showalter discount double-checked Aaron Rodgers.

Guys, the massive frustration and pain over an NCAA tournament without a single memorable shot at the horn: It was all for this. It was all for this.

And then.

Florida's lead and what seemed like a sure spot in the Elite Eight evaporated with Wisconsin's 14-1 run over the end of regulation and into overtime. But the Gators lingered, tying it on a Chris Chiozza layup with 24 seconds left, and then faced a two-point hole after Nigel Hayes made two free throws with four seconds remaining in the extra period.

And then Chiozza caught the ball on the run on the inbound pass. And then he dribbled, and somewhere across half-court Wisconsin left him, and after a jump stop at the top of the key, the Florida sophomore hoisted a shot. It fell as time expired. Florida had its spot in the Elite Eight with an 84-83 win and the 2017 NCAA tournament had its new best game.

We went 59 games in this event without overtime or a buzzer-beater. It was about time.

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

Box Score 

I would have liked to have seen Canyon Barry get a few more minutes. He needs the time and attempts to get out of his shooting slump. I'm relieved KeVaughn Allen got out of his slump, but UF needs a 100% offensively performing Canyon Barry too to have any chance at the national championship. 

UF's bench outscored the Wisky bench 20-3.

[Deleted]

This from floridagators.com

NEW YORK — Chris Chiozza could not remember ever hitting a true buzzer-beater to win a game. High school, club, whatever. 

He'll never forget his first. 

Neither will anyone in Gator Nation.   

It took Chiozza just four seconds to turn what loomed as one of the all-time crushing defeats in Florida basketball history into one of the most memorable finishes in NCAA Tournament history. UF's 6-foot guard took an inbounds pass, zipped past a couple Wisconsin defenders, raced the length of the floor and threw in a running 3-point shot as time expired in overtime to give the fourth-seeded Gators an improbable 84-83 "Sweet 16" win over the stunned eighth-seeded Badgers in the East Region semifinals at sold-out Madison Square Garden. 

The wild ending sent the UF bench onto the floor to mob Chiozza, while Wisconsin's players — who got to overtime when a prayer of their own was answered in the final seconds of regulation — watched the celebration with looks of disbelief. 

"I don't know how it happened, I just know it went in," Chiozza said. "Now, we have another game to play." 

Yes, they do. The Gators (27-8) advanced to Sunday's "Elite Eight" regional final, where Sunday they'll face a familiar foe in seventh-seeded and fellow Southeastern Conference brother South Carolina (25-10) at 2:20 p.m. ET, with the winner advancing to next weekend's Final Four at Glendale, Ariz. The Gamecocks got there by demolishing No. 3-seed Baylor in Friday's earlier semifinals 70-50. 

The nightcap was far more dramatic — what with 10 lead changes, seven ties and UF sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen erupting for a career-high 35 points — and actually ended well into Saturday morning. 

"I won't ramble for awhile, I know it's a little bit late, but my goodness, just a huge win," said UF coach Mike White, who is just a victory away from taking the Gators back to the Final Four in just his second season since replacing the iconic Billy Donovan. "What a wonderful college basketball game to be a part of. I'm so proud of our guys, I can't even put it into words the way that I would like to. I wish I had more thought, more time to put more thought into it."

Wonder if he could do it four seconds? 

The game was insane, what with both teams blowing double-digit leads and Florida doing it twice in the second half. The Gators, down 11 with eight minutes to go in the first half, closed the period on a 21-8 run after Allen, who started 1-for-8 from the floor, heated up on his way to 15 first-half points that had UF up 34-32 at the half. 

Allen remained hot in the second, helping the Gators take the margin out to 10 inside the 15-minute mark before the Badgers (27-10) took off on a 12-1 run to go up 53-52. UF, though, answered with nine straight points and led by 12 with just over four minutes left; and by eight, 72-64, with 1:30 remaining. 

That's when everything started going haywire, first for the Gators.  

UW, which had all five starters score in double figures, got some big late buckets from Nigel Hayes (22 points, 6 rebounds) and Bronson Koenig (13 points), while UF failed to put the game away by missing some free throws. 

With 16 seconds to go and his team up by three points, Florida center Kevarrius Hayes (8 points, 7 rebounds) lost the ball in traffic down low and with time running down Wisconsin guard Zak Showalter got just enough of a step on Chiozza and let fly a running a circus 3-pointer that swished through net with 2.5 seconds left, tied the game at 72 and sent it to overtime. 

The Gators looked shell shocked. 

"The momentum swing was huge when he made that," UF reserve forward Canyon Barry said. "You just felt like it was a HORSE shot." 

No one knew it'd be the second-zaniest one of the night. 

After a slow start, KeVaughn Allen scored a career-high 35 points against the Badgers, the most ever scored by a Florida player in an NCAA Tournament game. 

Florida fell behind twice by five in the extra period, the second time at 80-75 with 1:08 remaining. A driving layup by Allen cut the lead to three and one of two free throws by UW forward Ethan Happ (21 points, 6 rebounds) made it a four-point game with 42 seconds left. 

"We didn't stop playing," senior point guard Kasey Hill said. "We kept fighting and showed our resiliency." 

Barry quickly was able to draw a foul at UF's end and knock down two free throws to pull within 81-79. After the second make, the Gators set their full-court press, with UW's Hayes opting to throw over it to a wide-open Khalil Iverson sprinting for the goal. Iverson caught the ball and appeared to be going in for an easy layup or dunk, but Barry chased him down, blocked the shot cleanly and in the open floor Chiozza drove through the Badgers for an uncontested layup that tied the score with 24 seconds left. 

"If Canyon doesn't make that block, we're not in here smiling right now," junior forward Devin Robinson said. "He never gave up on the play." 

Wisconsin got the ball to Hayes in the final seconds, drawing a fifth foul from senior forward Justin Leon with just four seconds left. Leon walked to the bench and Hayes stepped to the line, hit two to nudge the Badgers in front 83-81. 

The Gators had no timeouts. 

"Thank goodness we didn't, right?" White said. 

Barry inbounded the ball, intent of getting it to Chiozza, with his elite speed, on the run and with a head of steam heading up the floor. 

"He's extremely quick, one of the quickest guys we've faced all year," Koenig said. "We knew that coming in." 

When Chiozza grabbed the pass he already had the momentum to get past Hayes at half court, despite a nudge from UW defender. Once by Hayes, though, no Badger stepped in to challenge Chiozza as he dashed toward the 3-point line. As he sprang forward and toward the basket, Chiozza let the ball go with just under a second to go. 

It fell through at the horn.

"I just knew I had four seconds and I was trying to get down the court as fast as I could and if somebody was open I was going to pass it," he said. "I was really trying to get to the rim, but they did a good job of bumping me and slowing me down and that was the only shot I had, so I had to take that one."

Nobody wearing white was complaining. 

As for the guys in red? 

"I needed to do a better job of making him change directions. He's extremely quick with the ball, he was able to put it in one hand and kind of outrun me," Hayes said.  "But he made a good shot. Sometimes that's what happens in this tournament." 

Wisconsin advanced with a buzzer-beater against Xavier last year. Maybe this was just the Gators' turn, what with Mike Miller's memorable Butler shot now 17 years and 43 tournament games ago. 

In fact, it was 19 years ago that White was on the receiving end of one the all-time buzzer-beaters when Valparaiso's Bryce Drew — the same guy who defeated White three times as Vanderbilt's coach this season — threw in a dagger to knock out White's Ole Miss team in 1998 opening-round play. 

Ironically, Drew was in the Garden Friday night, having come to watch his brother, Scott, coach Baylor.  

Did this one make up for that one? 

"Hell yeah," White said. "With an emphasis on the hell." 

And a shot from heaven.

[Deleted]

Florida radio announcer Mick Hubert's game winning call of Chiozza's 3 point shot: