Gators need energy to make Final Four

Quick turnaround after emotional Friday night win

New York – After Chris Chiozza’s overtime heroics on Friday night, the challenge for the Gators now becomes focusing on the next step: Sunday against a familiar foe: SEC rival South Carolina.

His 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Gators a one-point victory and earned Florida a spot in the Elite Eight isn’t only one of the great shots in Gators history, but it was one of the more memorable shots in recent college basketball history.

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“I don’t think it’s going to hit me all the way for a while,” Chiozza said. “I took a hot shower, tried to find a movie on the hotel TV and just listen to some music and try to relax.  It was late … or early, actually.”

Chiozza and his road roommate Devin Robinson did their best to get off the grid after the game by shutting off their phones. Both were deluged with texts, emails and social media posts. Chiozza estimated that he received more than 200 alerts on his phone in less than half an hour after the game.

“My phone was buzzing like crazy,” Robinson said. “I told [Chiozza] to definitely turn his phone off. At first we couldn’t [fall asleep]. He was wired.”

And now, Robinson, Chiozza and the rest of the Gators must turn their attention to South Carolina. In their two meetings in the SEC, the Gamecocks and Gators split, with each winning on their home floor.

“We know as a team how they play. They’re physical, they get after it,” Robinson said. “We have to slow down Sindarius Thornwell. He can do it all. We know those guys like the back of our hand. We know their tendencies. That gives us an advantage. We have to play defense and play to our identity and we’ll be fine.”

Thornwell, who has scored over 20 points in all three tournament games this year, believes that the Gamecocks will come into Sunday’s matchup as the underdog. It’s a role that he, and South Carolina are embracing.

“We still don't feel like it's pressure, because we're still getting picked against, and we're still going in as the underdog,” Thornwell said. “When you go in as the underdog, you don't have any expectations on anything, so we just playing free and having fun.”

South Carolina should be slightly better rested because the Gators turnaround is shorter after playing the late game on Friday. Add to that, they played an extra five minutes with the overtime period. With three SEC Teams remaining in the Elite Eight, Kentucky is one win away from the Final Four as well, the conference typically renowned for football is getting attention on the basketball court.

“It's kind of proves the point that we can actually can compete in terms of being a power conference,” Gators forward Kevarrius Hayes said. “Having three out of the eight teams that would be from the SEC has proven that we have made it here.”

South Carolina head coach Frank Martin knows how tough it can be to have a short turnaround. He learned a difficult lesson in a similar situation when he led Kansas State to the regional finals in 2010.

"Less than 36 hours after we arrived at our hotel, we were back playing Butler, which by the way, was the only team there that had two NBA players on their roster," Martin said "We slept walked the whole first half. And I'll never forgive myself, because of the time we got back, how soon we had to play, we went on the court and we did nothing but shoot balls and walk through things. And that's not the way we practice." 

That's the challenge that Florida head coach Mike White faces now: how to balance rest with preparation.

"We have a saying on our locker room door that is the last thing our guys see heading out to practice every day, that you are not promised tomorrow and that's it," White said. "I mean, it's a great opportunity against South Carolina."

The East Regional final is scheduled to tip off at 2:20 p.m. Sunday.