The Florida Gators (5-0) won an impressive, thrilling late night matchup against Gonzaga (4-1) on Friday night in the Phil Knight Invitational - or PK80 - in Portland, Oregon.
Though the game didn't begin until midnight Eastern Time, there was lots of fireworks in this game. Gonzaga played extremely well in the first half, taking a 36-29 lead into halftime. Florida battled back in the second half, taking the lead at several different points including at 53-49. Gonzaga took a lead at 78-76 with 40.1 seconds to go, but KeVaughn Allen hit a layup to tie the game and force overtime.
In the first overtime period, Silas Melson hit a layup to tie the game with 1.8 seconds left, part of a 12 point performance, but missed a free throw that would have win it. After Egor Koulechev was called for travelling, this game was headed into a second overtime.
Jalen Hudson had a career high 35 points for the Gators, including eight three-pointers. He hit one of this long range shots with 1:41 to go in the second overtime that put Florida up 106-99. Gonzaga could pull within four twice, including pulling within 109-104 with 11 seconds to go, but could get no closer and Florida would hang on to the impressive nonconference win.
In addition to the career night from Hudson, the Gators got a career high 26 points from Chris Chiozza, who added 10 assists and eight rebounds. Johnathan Williams had a career-high 39 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort for Gonzaga.
The Gators are back in action on Sunday night when they battle the number one team in the nation, Duke, for the championship of the PK80. Tipoff Sunday night is set for 10:30 PM and can be heard throughout Tampa Bay on 620 WDAE and 95.3 FM.