Late Hill bucket seals UF win
GAINESVILLE — The Florida Gators could not buy a shot as Stefan Moody and the Ole Miss Rebels closed in for the upset.
UF needed someone, anyone, to step up and make a basket as the Gators clung to a 67-66 lead Tuesday night in the O’Connell Center.
Leave it to Kasey Hill, the Gators’ most unlikely option with the game on the line, to deliver the shot of the game — and maybe of his up-anddown career at UF.
Hill’s off-balance bank shot with 1:19 remaining ended a nearly five-minute drought without a field goal for the Gators (16-8, 7-4 SEC) and provided the cushion they needed to hold off Ole Miss 77-72 before an announced crowd of 8,345.
“It was great. It was like some Harlem Globetrotters stuff. That really sparked us,” UF sophomore forward Devin Robinson said of Hill’s big bucket.
The Florida defense did the rest against the Rebels (15-9, 5-6).
Plagued by foul trouble all night, Moody was whistled for an offensive foul on UF center John Egbunu with 1:09 remaining to end the Rebels’ chances. Moody, a native of Kissimmee and the SEC’s leading scorer, had his team’s final eight points and 10 of 12 before fouling out for the first time since last Feb. 28 at LSU. Moody finished with 19 points.
Moments later, UF freshman KeVaughn Allen ripped a long 3-pointer to give the Gators a 72-66 lead and effectively ice the game.
Allen finished with a 15 points — one of five Gators in double-figures. Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith lead the way with 16 points as UF improved to 13-1 at home this season.
The win also gave firstyear coach Mike White his second win against his alma mater this season.
But a game featuring two of the SEC top players — Finney-Smith and Moody — came down to the team’s benches.
Robinson finished with a SEC season-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Hill had 10 points and a team-high six assists.
Robinson’s follow-up dunk of a Finney-Smith dunk with 5:46 remaining pushing the Gators’ lead to 65-58.
UF then fell into a scoring drought, allowing the Rebels to pull within one prior to Hill’s miracle shot.
FSU keeps Isaac
Florida State will not lose top hoops recruit Jonathan Isaac to the NBA.
Isaac, a five-star small forward from Bradenton’s IMG Academy, announced Tuesday that he was no longer weighing the option of declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft and would honor the national letter of intent he signed to play for FSU.
“After spending the weekend thinking, I concluded that the best decision for me is to enroll and pursue my education as well as my playing career at Florida State University,” Isaac posted on his Twitter account. “This is a definite and final decision.”