While there’s still hope for the NBA to crown a 2020 champion, the same cannot be said for college basketball. When professional sports organizations put their seasons on hold in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the NCAA canceled all winter tournaments — including the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Since there won’t be any bracket busting or Cinderella stories this year, Nets Wire will try to help fans get their March Madness fix by looking back at performances and runs that featured current Brooklyn Nets players:
March 26, 2017
After knocking off No. 13 ETSU by 15 points and beating No. 5 Virginia by nearly 30, No. 4 Florida faced its first real challenge of the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in their Sweet 16 matchup with No. 8 Wisconsin.
Still, the Gators were victorious, winning 84-83 as future Brooklyn Nets guard Chris Chiozza scored five of his eight points off the bench in overtime — which included his game-winning shot.
Chiozza also had five assists, four rebounds and a steal.
“I was going to pass, but I was really going to the rim,” Chiozza said about his big shot after the win. “But they did a good job of bumping me and slowing me down, and that was the shot I had so I had to have that one.”
After the wild win came No. 7 South Carolina.
Florida took a 40-33 lead into halftime, but the Gamecocks turned the tables in the second half to win 77-70 and advance to the Final Four.
Chiozza scored nine points on 3-for-10 shooting (2-for-7 from deep) off the bench. He also finished with four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Florida’s 2017 March Madness run would prove to be the Gators’ longest during Chiozza’s time at the university.