No Egbunu, no problem.
Freshman Kevarrius Hayes stepped into the starting lineup on Sunday against Ohio State for John Egbunu, who had hand surgery on Thursday, and played the best game of his young career.
Florida’s impressive performance crashing the boards on both ends of the floor made up for Egbunu’s absence in the paint.
The No. 2 seed Gators defeated third-seeded Ohio State 74-66 — Florida’s first win ever in Columbus, Ohio — to advance to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. It was the first postseason meeting between the Gators and the Buckeyes since the 2007 National Championship Game.
In Hayes’ fifth career start, the freshman from Live Oak never missed a shot — a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for a career-high 14 points in a career-high 28 minutes played.
"Kevarrius is a guy who hasn’t been given a lot of opportunity, playing behind John Egbunu, and boy did he take advantage," Florida coach Mike White said. "Moving forward, this should help Kevarrius. Very proud of his performance."
At halftime, Florida’s lead was cut to 31-30 after opening the game with a 16-4 advantage.
The Gators suffered a 3:15 scoring drought to end the first half while the Buckeyes finished the half on a 9-0 run. But Hayes scored the first two buckets of the second half to spark a 14-2 Gators scoring run.
Florida didn’t look back, and Ohio State never led in the game.
"The way we started was a bit of a surprise," White said. "We got off to a great start, and it was much needed of course with the way that the crowd got involved and became a factor in the game."
Dorian Finney-Smith led Florida (21-14) with 16 points and 12 rebounds, marking his eighth double-double of the season. Kasey Hill scored 15 points — his fourth straight game scoring in double figures — and dished out five assists, while Justin Leon added 12 points, seven rebounds and shot 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Florida’s ability to control the paint was a major factor in the win.
The Gators outscored the Buckeyes 44-28 in the paint and out-rebounded Ohio State 43-35, all without Egbunu. Florida grabbed 16 offensive rebounds — five by Leon — and scored 14 points off of 13 Ohio State turnovers.
The Buckeyes (21-14) sagged on transition defense and failed to block out around the rim while the Gators were full of energy from the opening tip.
"It was really emphasizing winning the battle on the inside," Hayes said. "Knowing that they have big post men, we had to play to our best to fight down there and not let any of the loose balls be given away."
Florida now advances to Wednesday’s NIT quarterfinal to face the winner of tonight’s game between Monmouth and George Washington.
"We continue to improve incrementally offensively," White said. "We would have rather have made this improvement a couple months ago, but I’m proud of the fact that we’re still fighting and trying to get a little better each and every day and taking advantage of this NIT opportunity."
Contact Alex Maminakis at amaminakis@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @alexmaminakis.
Texas A&M's Tyler Davis (34) gets tangled up with Florida's Kevarrius Hayes (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 11, 2016. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
