No. 23 Gators seem poised for another postseason run
GAINESVILLE — The University of Florida caught fire at the right time a year ago en route to an unexpected Elite Eight run.
Senior point guard Chris Chiozza see signs the Gators could make some postseason magic again.
“We’re as confident as we’ve been all season,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to see what happens.”
Third-seeded UF enters this week’s SEC tournament in St. Louis riding a three-game winning streak and back in the Top 25 after brushing aside Kentucky 80-67 last Saturday.
Along the way, the No. 23 Gators (20-11) have developed a sounder winning formula more reliant on defense and effort than offensive fireworks.
Back in November, the Gators were playing carefree and confidently while clicking on all cylinders on offense. UF rose to No. 5 in the national rankings and led the nation in scoring.
But coach Mike White would spend the next few months trying to convince his players simply looking to outscore opponents was fool’s gold. It would take three-game losing streaks in both December and February and an increased sense of urgency to finally drive home the point for the Gators.
“We just kind of came together and realized this is it,” senior Egor Koulechov said. “This team has however many games left. That’s it. It’s kind of in the back of my mind.”
A deep postseason run is on the Gators’ minds, too.
Few teams UF will face feature four perimeter players as explosive as Chiozza, Koulechov, Jalen Hudson and KeVaughn Allen. Each has scored 20 points at least twice this season, with Hudson and Koulechov each clearing 30.
But White is more impressed each now brings more to the game than scoring points.
Chiozza was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive team, Koulechov, at just 6 foot-5, 205 pounds, averages a team-high 6.5 rebounds and Allen totaled team-highs of seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals against Kentucky.
No one, however, has come farther than Hudson, a pure scorer who neglected the other areas of the game until recently. The 6-foot-6, 192-pound junior now is defending and rebounding more consistently than he has all season.
“He’s guarding. He’s flying around,” White said. “He’s playing with an unbelievable level of confidence SunSentinel.com/sports
right now, and he’s put together a few highlevel offensive games to say the least.”
Hudson scored 27 points at Alabama and 22 versus Kentucky to give him a team-best seven 20-point games — two more than Koulechov.
“Coincidentally, when you’re thinking about the right stuff you play well offensively, as well,” White said.
Following the Kentucky win and entering UF’s spring break, White wanted his players to forget about basketball for a couple of days.
The Gators do not begin SEC tournament play until 9:30 p.m. today against the winner of No. 6 seed Arkansas versus No. 11 seed South Carolina, who faced off late Thursday night.
Chiozza spent Monday by the swimming pool followed by a team dinner to celebrate the birthday of center Kevarrius Hayes. “We’ve just been hanging around each other, relaxing, trying to recuperate, get off our legs and just hang out with each other as much as we could,” Chiozza said Tuesday.
Beginning Wednesday, though, the Gators once again were single-minded and on a mission to be involved in March Madness as long as possible. “We got to stay locked in,” Hudson said. “Whatever we’re doing right now we have to continue to do it.”