Chris Chiozza injures shoulder in Florida exhibition win

By Adam Silverstein
November 2, 2017
Chris Chiozza injures shoulder in Florida exhibition win
Basketball

Image Credit: ESPN Images

It would not be a Florida Gators basketball season without an injury to open the year, and unfortunately, senior point guard Chris Chiozza suffered one on Thursday night in No. 8 Florida’s 88-47 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins in a charity exhibition game.

Chiozza hurt his left shoulder early in the game. After a brief respite on the bench, he attempted to continue playing but instead went to the locker room and wound up calling it a night. Head coach Mike White announced after the game that Chiozza’s shoulder was sprained but said he was “really concerned” about the injury.

The point guard, who due to his talent and UF’s lack of depth at the position is one of the most valuable players on the team, will be evaluated on Friday back in Gainesville.

After serving as a reserve floor general over the last three seasons, Chiozza is pegged as a starter in his final year with the Gators. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 assists last season.

Florida hosts Tampa in another exhibition game on Sunday in Gainesville. The Gators open the 2017-18 season eight days later at home against Gardner-Webb.

Florida led Jacksonville 37-26 at halftime on Thursday but opened the second half on an 18-0 run and outscored the homestanding Dolphins 51-21 in the second half.

Redshirt junior guard Jalen Hudson was dominant in the latter 20 minutes, scoring a team-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while making 4-of-7 threes. Sophomore G KeVaughn Allen and graduate transfer G Egor Koulechov each contributed 17 points, combining to go 12-of-21 from the field and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc; Allen added six assists, while each contributed four boards.

Freshmen forward Dontay Bassett grabbed a team-high nine boards, while G Deaundrae Ballard added 11 points but made just 5-of-14 field goals and 1-of-7 threes.

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