With just over a minute left in the game, Chris Chiozza stood behind the three-point line with the ball in his hands. He gently rocked the ball back and forth, lulling his defender to sleep.
Then, the junior guard let it fly as Georgia’s J.J. Frazier tried to close out.
Too late.
The three-pointer silenced a raucous Stegeman Coliseum and put Florida’s lead out of reach as the No. 17 Gators (19-5, 9-2 SEC) defeated the Bulldogs 72-60 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight double-digit win.
Chiozza led UF with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting and four rebounds to continue his recent hot streak, and senior forward Justin Leon added 10 points and seven boards.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and he’s making good decisions,” UF coach Mike White said of Chiozza. “He’s about winning.”
Florida played with aggression on both ends of the court to start the game.
But after the Gators took a 30-14 lead more than halfway through the first half, Georgia (13-11, 4-7 SEC) finally found the physicality that’s made it one of the SEC’s most dangerous teams.
The Bulldogs forced 10 straight misses by UF and went on a 19-5 run to cut Florida’s lead to just two points before halftime.
After a dominant performance on the glass against Kentucky, the Gators were outrebounded 24-19 in the opening frame and were held without a second-chance point (they had just two for the game).And despite holding Georgia to 33 percent from the floor, Florida had no answer for Bulldogs forward Yante Maten, who led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
“It was a game of swings and momentum changes,” White said. “For us to regroup at halftime … (it) just shows what we’re capable of defensively.”
For much of the second half, UF had a difficult time matching Georgia’s physicality, failing to score during a three-minute stretch midway through the period. But a Chiozza-led 13-5 run late in the game sealed the win for Florida.
“They had chances to beat us,” White said. “All that said, I’m proud that our guys just continue to dig deep … in a game of this magnitude.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
Florida guard Chris Chiozza (11) reacts after hitting a 3-point shot during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Georgia on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, in Athens, Ga. Florida won 72-60. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
