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Jones: Chiozza's buzzer-beating 3 sends Florida Gators to NCAA Elite Eight

 
Florida Gators guard Chris Chiozza (11) makes the game winning shot to beat the Wisconsin Badgers during overtime in the East Region Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on Friday, March 24, 2017.
Florida Gators guard Chris Chiozza (11) makes the game winning shot to beat the Wisconsin Badgers during overtime in the East Region Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on Friday, March 24, 2017.
Published March 25, 2017

NEW YORK — The ball left Chris Chiozza's fingertips and more than 20,000 fans inside Madison Square Garden and millions watching on national TV fell silent, holding their collective breath as the ball floated through the air.

Less than four seconds earlier, the Florida guard had taken the inbounds pass underneath his own basket and sprinted nearly the entire length of the court with his team trailing by two in overtime. He weaved his way around two Wisconsin defenders, stopping just shy of the 3-point line. How anyone could make this mad dash, while dribbling a basketball, in less than four seconds, is nothing short of amazing.

Then, with the coolness of a kid playing on an empty outdoor court with no one watching, Chiozza looked like a long jumper as he pushed a one-armed shot into the air. There was 0.8 seconds left in overtime. It felt like time stood still.

It did not. The clock raced down to 0.0 as the ball continued to sail toward the basket. In a near-silent building, the buzzer could be heard throughout the World's Most Famous Arena.

Nothing but net.

When the ball swished through the hoop, the crowd exploded, putting the just the right touch on, perhaps, the most dramatic moment in Florida basketball history. Chiozza's buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Gators a heart-stopping, palm-sweating, jaw-dropping 84-83 overtime victory over Wisconsin.

Aside from making a March Madness highlight that will live forever, Chiozza's winner sends the No. 4 seed Gators into the East Region final on Sunday against SEC rival and No. 7 seed South Carolina with the winner going to the Final Four.

"What a wonderful college basketball game to be a part of," UF coach Mike White said after the only walkoff buzzer-beater and the only overtime in this NCAA Tournament.

It was more than wonderful. You could argue it was as good as any NCAA Tournament game ever played. For sheer drama, competitiveness, swings of emotion and clutch play, the Gators and Badgers gave us a duel for the ages.

Eighth-seeded Wisconsin led by double-digits in the first half. The Gators led by double-digits in the second half. Back and forth it went, with the sold-out Garden getting more electric as Friday night turned into Saturday morning. The game went deeper and the players got better, sharper. Both teams played their guts out. Both deserved to win.

Florida held an eight-point lead with 1:44 left in regulation, then watched in horror as guard Zak Showalter's desperation, off-balance 3-pointer tied the score at 72 with 2.5 seconds left in regulation.

It was the kind of shot that not only had White second-guessing his decision not to foul, but a shot that should have kicked the Gators in the stomach and right out of the tournament.

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"It was a deflating shot," White said. "We kept composure. … We didn't freak out."

In overtime, the Badgers built a five-point lead. The game and the season looked doomed for Florida.

But the Gators never quit. They never panicked. They fought on, showing heart and will and determination. No player signified that more than KeVaughn Allen.

The sophomore guard was Florida's top scorer during the regular season but had done little in its first two tournament games. He started 1-for-8 from the field Friday before getting so red hot that he played what might have been the best game ever played by a Gator. He poured in 35 points, a school record for an NCAA Tournament game. He single-handedly pulled the Gators out of the grave in the first half.

"Just continue shooting," Allen said of his big night after a rough start. "And just my teammates believing in me, just to keep shooting, whether I miss or not."

Meantime, no play showed this team's determination more than the one turned in by guard Canyon Barry in the final minute. Wisconsin led by two with 36 seconds left when Khalil Iverson, known for his highlight-reel dunks, was all alone on a breakaway. Barry chased down the Badgers guard and, without fouling, managed to leap from behind at the rim and block his shot as the Gators regained possession. A few moments later, Florida tied the score at 81 on a Chiozza driving layup.

"Huge block," White said of Barry's never-give-up play.

Barry made sure the Gators didn't lose. Chiozza made sure the Gators won. The Badgers took an 83-81 lead with four seconds left on a pair of free throws by Nigel Hayes, setting up Chiozza's race to greatness.

"I just knew I had four seconds and I was trying to get down the court as fast as I could and if someone was open, I was going to pass it," Allen said. "I was really trying to get to the rim, but they did a good job of bumping me and slowing me down and that was the only shot I had."

What a shot. What a night. What a season.

The Gators are 27-8 and have a date with South Carolina, which UF lost to by four in January but beat by 15 just a month ago in Gainesville. The two teams, who join Kentucky to make the SEC the only league with multiple teams in the Elite Eight, now play for a trip to the Final Four. A trip that would put the Gators back on track as a — get this — basketball school again.

Just the other day — well, two seasons ago — the shine was off the Gator program. They were 16-17 and hanging out near the bottom of the SEC. It went from bad to worse when Billy Donovan, only the best college basketball coach the state has ever seen, decided to pack up his gear and his consecutive national championships and move to the NBA.

The program was at a crossroads. A stumble into irreverence seemed quite possible.

So, along came Mike Who, er, White and we all settled in for what figured to be a lengthy rebuilding project as Florida tried to figure out how to be good again in a sport that uses a round ball instead of an oblong one.

After a season settling in, White has built the Gators into his own image: tough-minded, defensive-oriented, smart, full of guts.

All were on display Friday night and, especially, Saturday morning.

It all started with a belief that they could get it done. It ended with four seconds.

Four seconds that Gator fans will remember forever.