Notebook: Robinson shines as Gators advance to second round
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* Recap: Florida defeats ETSU, will face Virginia in second round
* Florida vs. ETSU game discussion
* Mike White and players press conference
* Video: Gators discuss victory against East Tennessee State
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ORLANDO, Fla. – With KeVaughn Allen struggling from the field, and the bench not being able to conjure up much scoring during the first half, junior forward Devin Robinson rose to the occasion for the Gators.
In No. 4 seed Florida’s 80-65 victory against No. 13 seed East Tennessee State, Robinson erupted for 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting to tie a career high. His 24 points were the most by a Gator in a postseason game since Mike Rosario dropped 25 against Minnesota in 2013.
Robinson “piped it up” in the early goings, with three emphatic dunks in the first five minutes of the game to score eight of Florida’s first 14 points.
“Yeah, that got me going real early,” Robinson said. “My team, we were just trying to play defense, and I just tried to beat everybody down the court. Transition defense is one of their emphases and what they need to work on. So I just try to run as hard and play as hard as I can, and my teammates found me when I did.”
With Florida down 37-35 early on in the second half, Robinson came up clutch during the Gators’ 22-6 run, with back-to-back threes to lift them to a seven-point lead that only kept growing.
As the Gators led by double figures late, Robinson padded his stats with a layup, two free throws and a dunk to put an exclamation point on the win.
“We've challenged him all year, and he's challenged himself to get out in transition, to really run,” Mike White said. “When he wants to, he runs like a deer. When he's in space, he's got the ability to get his feet set and make jumpers, and he can really straight-line-drive it, of course. He can take off before physicality and explode to the rim, he usually finishes or draws fouls. He's a really talented guy.”
GATORS SETTLE IN
Following the game, White and some players admitted that there were some nerves in the early goings. After all, this was the first NCAA Tournament appearance at Florida for White and every player on the roster besides Kasey Hill.
“I could say I was a little nervous,” sophomore center Kevarrius Hayes said. “It's something new. We're playing for something much greater than ourselves, playing for each other, and now it's like where it really counts.”
It showed in the early goings. Florida struggling at times shooting the basketball during the first half, while the nerves led to the Gators being too sped up on offense.
By halftime, Florida led just 33-32 against East Tennessee State after holding an eight-point lead against the Buccaneers earlier in the first half.
“So of the four parts of the game, the first, third, and fourth, I thought we were pretty good. East Tennessee State got the better of us in that second quarter of the game, if you will,” White said. They got it going with some – (T.J.) Cromer hit a couple hard shots. Boy, he's very, very talented.
“We had a couple of live-ball turnovers. We had a couple of late shot-clock situations where we got a little stagnant, held the ball a little bit. Then I thought we were in a hurry a few times a little bit too much offensively with balls going through our hands out of bounds.”
By the second half, Florida settled in and looked like the team that ran off seven- and nine-game winning streaks this year. Shots were starting to fall – and the intensity on defense improved.
“We just knew if we played defense, it would help us on offense,” Robinson said. “We know our identity as a team, and we knew we had to regroup because, at the end of the first half, we slacked on defense. So we knew we had to come out, first four minutes, the most important minutes in the game in the second half, to make a difference. We just knew we had to come out there and intensify our defense.”
White’s halftime message resonated with the team, according to Robinson.
“He just laid it out for us like, ‘Hey, if you all want to go home, lay it down right now. If you all want to advance, these are things you need to do to be successful,’” Robinson said. “We listened to him, took that in, and came out with a big second half.”
CHIOZZA PROVIDES A SPARK
Junior point guard Chris Chiozza was a key contributor in the Gators’ victory over the Bucs, with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting (and 4-of-5 free throw shooting). All 14 of those points came in the second half, as Chiozza proved to be a spark plug for the Gators.
“Chris Chiozza was terrific,” White said. “I would say, in terms of the game ball, it would probably go to Chris and both of these guys (Robinson and Hayes). Unbelievably active, utilized his speed getting to a couple of loose balls which led to layups for himself. And he just rebounds bigger than he is. Chris has always been a tough kid, and in my opinion, in the last few months, he's really grown into becoming a really tough kid. For whatever reason, he's embraced that. And defensively and on the glass, again, this is a guy that six, eight weeks ago gets a triple-double. I'm glad he's a Gator.”
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