ORLANDO, Fla. _ After the Gators went down by two points early in the second half, Devin Robinson took a pass from KeVaughn Allen just outside the arc and swished it with ease.
Quick on his feet, the junior ran the length of the court, corralled a defensive rebound and made another quick 3-point basket to light up the Florida-heavy crowd in Orlando's Amway Center.
Robinson scored a career-high-tying 24 points _ capped with a monstrous dunk at the end of regulation _ and served as No. 4 seed Florida's offensive catalyst early in its 80-65 win over No. 13 seed East Tennessee State in Florida's first NCAA Tournament game since making a run to the Final Four in 2014. It was also UF coach Mike White's first career NCAA Tournament victory as a head coach.
Senior point guard Kasey Hill and sophomore center Kevarrius Hayes added full stat lines for the Gators (25-8), who made 53.8 percent of their shots in the second half to pull away with the win.
Hill finished the game 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hayes set a school record with six steals in an NCAA Tournament game. He also chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and a block. Chris Chiozza added 14 points off the bench, all in the second half.
After pulling out to a 26-14 lead early, Florida missed nine of its final 13 shots to whimper into halftime with just a 33-32 lead. Errant passes, missed layups and just one made 3-pointer from Florida on 10 tries allowed East Tennessee State (27-8) to stay in the game through intermission and take a minor lead to start the second half on a 3-point basket from TJ Cromer and a layup from Tevin Glass. Cromer led the Buccaneers with 19 points.
But a 12-2 Florida run _ all on 3-point baskets _ soon after gave the Gators the lead for good.
With the win, Florida will face No. 5 seed Virginia in the second round on Saturday. The Cavaliers defeated 12th-seeded UNC-Wilmington 67-61 earlier in the day.
