UF to meet No. 1 Duke in PK80 final
No. 11 Canes improve to 5-0 with rout of North Florida.
Jalen Hudson had a careerhigh 35 points, including eight 3-pointers, and No. 7
Florida downed No. 17 Gonzaga 111-105 in double over
time late Friday night at the PK80 Invitational in Portland, Ore.
Chris Chiozza added a career-high 26 points and 10 assists for the Gators (5-0), who will face No. 1 Duke in the bracket championship tonight. The Blue Devils ral
lied to defeat Texas 85-78 in overtime earlier in the day.
Hudson hit a 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the second overtime that put the Gators up 106-99. Gonzaga closed within 106-102 on Johnathan Williams’ layup, then within 109-105 on Corey Kispert’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go but couldn’t get closer.
“Such an emotional, long game,” a drained Gators coach Mike White told FloridaGators.com in a postgame news conference that began at 2:51 a.m. “I’m still young at this. I don’t know where to start. Crazy game, and just really proud to have been a part of it.”
Williams finished with a career-high 39 points and 12 rebounds for Gonzaga (4-1).
In the first overtime, Silas Melson got a layup to tie it at 95 with 1.8 seconds left but missed a free throw that would have won it. Egor Koulechev was called for travelling on a heave down the court, giving Gonzaga back the ball with 0.7 seconds left but Melson missed a 3 from the corner at the buzzer.
Gonzaga went up 78-76 on Josh Perkins’ layup and free throw with 40.1 seconds left in regulation. KeVaughn Allen’s layup tied it and the game went to overtime.
The crowd at the Moda Center was decidedly on the side of Gonzaga, which is about a 5-hour drive from Portland. Fans gave the team a standing ovation as they left the court at halftime with a 36-29 lead.
Killian Tillie finished with 17 points for Gonzaga before he fouled out in overtime. Josh Perkins also had 17, all in the second half, before
also fouling out.
The Zags and Gators were among 16 teams playing in two brackets at the PK80, which celebrates Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s 80th birthday.
Gonzaga and Florida were in the Motion Bracket, playing Friday at the Moda Center, home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers.
Melson’s early 3-pointer that put Gonzaga in front 7-2 drew a roar from the crowd. Melson went to Portland’s Jefferson High School.
Williams went on a personal 8-0 run, with a free throw, a dunk, a 3-pointer and a jumper to put Gonzaga up 27-23.
Florida wrestled back the lead on Hudson’s 3-pointer, which made it 42-41. Hudson hit another 3 that pushed the lead to 53-49.
“Great, great basketball game. Just epic,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team lost to North Carolina
in the 2017 NCAA title game. “We had our chances to win it and didn’t get it done. They
hit some big shots and got it done. It wasn’t because of a lack of effort on our part or lack of execution on our part or anything like that. They just won.”
No. 11 Miami 86, North
Florida 65: Bruce Brown and Anthony Lawrence scored 14 points each to lead the Hurricanes (5-0) to the rout of the Ospreys (1-7) on Saturday in Coral Gables.
Dewan Huell finished with 13 points for the Hurricanes, and Ja’Quan Newton and Chris Lykes had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Brown scored six points in a 16-2 run that helped Miami build a 17-point lead midway through the first half. Brown’s dunk with 7:04 remaining capped the surge and gave the Hurricanes a 26-9 lead.
JT Escobar scored 16 points for the Ospreys.