ORLANDO — Before the Gators set foot on the court at the Amway Center for their first NCAA Tournament action in two years, Mike White turned on the locker room’s TV.
During Sunday’s selection show, Florida was picked as the first upset of the tournament, set to lose to No. 13 seed East Tennessee State.
UF’s second-year coach replayed the tape for his players prior to their matchup with the Buccaneers.
“It put a chip on our shoulder,” Devin Robinson said.
The junior forward responded as best as he could.
By scoring — a lot.
Robinson scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, as the Gators (25-8) handled ETSU 80-65 on Thursday afternoon in the tournament’s first round.
In his first NCAA Tournament appearance, Robinson threw down five dunks, including a two-handed jam to give UF its first points of the game.
“I ain’t ever seen him dunk that much,” guard Chris Chiozza said of Robinson. “It’s fun to watch him when he’s on like that because he can score at all three levels… . When he’s on on offense, he’s a force on both ends of the court.”
Robinson and senior guard Kasey Hill led the Gators on a 10-4 run to begin the first period.
But after starting the first half 7-for-8 from the field, Florida’s offense and defense regressed.
The Buccaneers (27-8) shot 48 percent from the floor in the opening half and hit four three-pointers to get back in the game.
A layup by ETSU guard T.J. Cromer with just over a minute left in the first frame cut the Gators’ lead to one, and a step back three-pointer 10 seconds into the final half gave the Buccaneers their first lead of the game at 35-33.
Then three Gators stepped up.
Chiozza scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Robinson nailed a pair of three-pointers. And a steal and rim-shattering dunk by sophomore forward Kevarrius Hayes capped off a 26-10 run to give UF a commanding 59-43 lead with just over eight minutes to play.
Hayes added seven points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a Florida NCAA Tournament single-game record six steals.
“I would say, in terms of the game ball, it would probably go to Chris and both of these guys,” White said. “My staff’s fired up… . We got to the tournament. We won a game. We’re ready to move on to the next one.”
With the win, the Gators advance to the Round of 32, where they will meet No. 5-seed Virginia on Saturday.
The Cavaliers survived a first-round scare in a 76-71 win over No. 12 seed UNC Wilmington.
“We still got a lot more basketball to be played,” Robinson said. “It feels good to get this win, but we’ve still got to … be ready to play Saturday.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
Info box:
Devin Robinson: 24 points (10-for-17 shooting) and 7 rebounds
Chris Chiozza: 14 points (4-for-5 shooting), 5 rebounds and 3 assists
Kevarrius Hayes: 7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocks
Florida forward Devin Robinson dunks the ball during the second half of the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against East Tennessee State, Thursday, March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Fla. Florida defeated ETSU 80-65. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
