ORLANDO — With five minutes left in the game, Chris Chiozza rifled a pass to Devin Robinson on the right wing.
As the Cavaliers’ Mamadi Diakite sprinted to close out, Robinson calmy sized up the shot and let it fly.
Florida fans cheered in excitement, and Virginia fans groaned in frustration as the ball tracked on line toward the basket.
And when the high-arching three-pointer finally found the bottom of the net, the junior wing trotted back down the court and shrugged.
He was on tonight.
In a game where UF’s leading scorer, KeVaughn Allen, scored only four points, Robinson stepped up to lead No. 4-seed Florida (26-8) in its 65-39 win over No. 5-seed Virginia (23-11) in the Round of 32 on Saturday night.
He scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting and ripped down 11 rebounds against a physical Cavaliers team for his second double-double of the season.
With Robinson playing some of the best basketball of his career, the Gators are poised for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and it all starts on defense.
“My early years, I didn’t really believe in playing defense effectively,” Robinson said. “But I know if you want to win games and try to win a championship, you have to play defense. If I want to have playing time I had to play defense.”
On Saturday night, the Gators turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season.
Virginia was held to 17 points in the first half and failed to score in the frame’s final five minutes. Florida jumped out to a 40-17 lead two-and-a-half minutes into the second period before the Cavaliers could score another point.
For the game, Virginia shot 29.6 percent from the field and converted only one of its 15 three-point attempts. Its 39 points were the fewest Florida has ever allowed in an NCAA Tournament game.
Robinson’s 6-foot-8 athletic frame can be attributed to much of UVA’s struggles near and away from the basket.
Without 6-foot-11 center John Egbunu, who was sidelined late in the year with a season-ending ACL tear, Florida has been forced to play a plethora of small lineups. However, against the Cavaliers, Robinson was often times the tallest player on the court.
“Devin makes us all look a little bit longer,” UF coach Mike White said. “He’s incredibly long, and he got his hands on a lot of basketballs. He was terrific.”
With the win, the Gators advance to the Sweet 16 — their first time doing so since the 2013-14 season.
And with Robinson thoroughly engaged, they could go even further.
It’s not all on Robinson, though.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” White said. “It wasn’t one guy individually. It was a collective effort.”
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF forward Devin Robinson walks off the court during Florida's 65-39 win against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Orlando.
