SUNRISE, Fla. — Chris Chiozza’s leadership is not one of vocal strength — he does so by example.
Having been slotted into the starting lineup at point guard for the second consecutive time this season, he brought an energy to the floor that was much needed in Florida’s (7-3) 72-70 neutral site win over Oklahoma State (7-4) on Saturday night at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
The victory secured the Gators’ sixth consecutive win in the Orange Bowl Classic and ended their two-game losing streak.
To complement his season-high-tying 11 points and four steals, the sophomore guard took part in two of the Gators’ key runs in the second half.
Down 39-38 with 17:31 to go in the game, Florida went on a 6-0 run in a 35-second span, led by two steals and four points by Chiozza, to give the Gators a 44-39 lead.
Five minutes later, with the score evened up at 51, Chiozza got a steal and scored six of nine unanswered points to create a 60-51 Florida lead.
“People feed off his energy, especially when he’s creating turnovers,” Florida coach Mike White said.
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith praised Chiozza’s on-ball pressure that helped the Gators reach double-digit steals for just the third team this season.
“We’ve got two of the fastest guards,” Finney-Smith said of Hill and Chiozza. “They did a great job of cutting the passing lane.”
While White mentioned that the play of Chiozza was key to the Gators’ victory, it was not the only factor that contributed to the win.
Led by the redshirt senior Finney-Smith, who had team highs in points (16) and rebounds (9), Florida was able to produce five double-digit scorers for the second time this season.
Coming off the bench, Hill dished out eight of the Gators’ 11 assists, tying his season high.
Redshirt sophomore John Egbunu started the game on the bench for the first time this season. White said that Kevarrius Hayes, who started in Egbunu’s place, played better in practice this week.
But that did not stop the 6-foot-11 center from scoring 10 points, recording three blocks and playing the second-most minutes on the team (31).
A 14-7 turnover margin in Florida’s favor in combination with the scoring distribution helped propel Saturday night’s win, but a recurring problem for White’s team kept the game close late: missed free throws.
Coming into the game against the Cowboys, the Gators were ranked 294th in the nation in free throw percentage, so it was no surprise that the team shot 12-26 from the charity stripe.
The Gators made just one of its final five free throws attempts, all coming in the game’s final 41 seconds.
A three pointer by Jawun Evans, who scored a game-high 17 points, with two seconds left in the game cut the UF lead to two, but it wasn’t enough to extend Oklahoma State’s winning streak to three games.
Next, Florida will head home to face Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Follow Kyle Brutman on Twitter @KBrut13
Chris Chiozza drives the ball into the paint during Florida's 68-61 loss to No. 1 Kentucky on Feb. 7, 2014 in the O'Connell Center.
