Florida advances behind Robinson

After watching countless hours of video on Florida forward Devin Robinson, East Tennessee State coach Steve Forbes knew he would be a matchup problem. Seeing the 6-foot-8 Robinson in person made it even more obvious.

“He’s downright scary,” Forbes said. “His length really affected us.”

Robinson tied his career-high with 24 points, Kasey Hill added 14 and No. 4 seed Florida used a second-half surge to beat 13th-seeded East Tennessee State 80-65 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Florida.

Robinson, an NBA prospect who had been relatively quiet of late, scored his most points in nearly two months. He made 10 of 17 shots and chipped in seven rebounds. The speedy Hill reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game. He also added six rebounds and five assists for his most complete game in a month.

Kevarrius Hayes, filling in for injured center John Egbunu, finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six steals. He broke the school record for steals in an NCAA Tournament game.

Florida (25-8) needed all those contributions, especially since coach Mike White got so little from leading scorer KeVaughn Allen and Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year Canyon Barry. Allen and Barry scored seven points apiece and were 2 of 15 combined.

Virginia 76, UNC Wilmington 71: Defensive-minded Virginia showed it can play with a little offensive tempo, even using five guards to outpace UNC Wilmington.

London Perrantes scored 24 points, Marial Shayok added a career-high 23 off the bench and No. 5 seed Virginia rallied from 15 points down to beat 12th-seeded UNC Wilmington 76-71 in Orlando.

Virginia advanced past the first round for the fourth consecutive year and won as a No. 5 seed for the first time in four tries.

The Cavaliers closed the first half with a 16-1 run that erased a double-digit deficit.