KNOXVILLE - The Southeastern Conference's most efficient point guards will square off Wednesday when 19th-ranked Tennessee hosts Florida at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Florida senior Chris Chiozza averages an SEC-best 3.4 assists for every turnover while Tennessee sophomore Jordan Bone is second at 2.9 this season.
Tennessee's Jordan Bone (0) shots a layup during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Lexington, Ky. Tennessee won 61-59. (AP Photo/James Crisp)Perhaps Chiozza's career arc offers a path for Bone, who has had his minutes decline over the last three games.
"He's constant pressure, just moving the whole time, keeps the ball moving," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of Chiozza. "He's been around. He's played a lot of basketball in this league and had a lot of success."
Chiozza is more important to the Gators (17-8, 8-6) now than at any point in his four-year career. The Memphis native has gone from averaging 22.9 minutes per game his first three seasons to averaging 32 minutes per game this season while reaching a career-best assist-to-turnover ratio.
Bone, meanwhile, continues to find himself on the receiving end of of critiques from Barnes, who is notoriously tough on his point guards. The 6-foot-3 Nashville resident totaled 31 assists and just three turnovers in the last six games for Tennessee (19-7, 9-5), but his playing time decreased during that stretch.
Barnes' recent emphasis with Bone has been getting the speedy sophomore to push the basketball in transition.
"I don't know who all he's listening to for one, because if he understands his own game he'd understand that's really the strength of his game," Barnes said. "That's something we've tried to get him to do over and over."
In SEC games, it's actually Bone who leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.7 while Chiozza is second at 4.0.
Yet despite dishing out seven assists with no turnovers in a 73-62 loss at Georgia on Saturday, Bone played just 19 minutes while James Daniel and Lamonte Turner logged 20 and 26 minutes off the bench for Tennessee.
Neither Turner nor Daniel, who are both regarded as scorers, rank in the SEC's top 10 for assist-to-turnover ratio. Bone has more assists than Turner and Daniel combined over the last six games, despite playing fewer minutes than both.
Barnes said none of the three have separated themselves. Bone remains a staple of the starting lineup although he's been absent in most late-game situations.
Similarly, Chiozza started 22 games his sophomore season at Florida. That year, he shot just 34.4 percent from the field while averaging 23.8 minutes per game. Bone is shooting 36.2 percent for the Vols this season. Barnes said Bone "reverts back" to thinking he should shoot the ball more.
Chiozza's junior year, he shot the ball 48 fewer times than he did as a sophomore while increasing his success rate to 41.1 percent. Now, as a senior, he's shooting a career-best 42.3 percent and averaging a career-high 11.4 points per game.
Bone's numbers as a sophomore are similar to Chiozza's numbers as a sophomore, and the flashes of brilliance are there. Now the question is how Bone can continue to master the style of play that Barnes demands.
"I just think if he locks in to what we try and tell him as a coaching staff and if he just locked into it he would figure it out," Barnes said. "I just think the biggest thing is him understanding what he's good at and that strength."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.