Florida basketball rallies late to stay unbeaten, knocking off UNC at ...

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Watch Steve Russell at work.

Russell is retiring from Florida this week and will host his final Sportscene show, for now, after a 26-year run. There’s a chance that Russell could return to the airwaves in some form after a six-month, state-mandated grace period.

Florida basketball survived its first close-game test of the 2024-25 season, beating North Carolina 90-84 at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The No. 7 Florida Gators (11-0) maintained its unbeaten record, but it wasn't easy. Before a partisan UNC crowd at the 19,000-seat Spectrum Center, Florida let a 17-point first-half lead slip away and trailed 81-77 with 4:03 remaining before going on a 13-3 run to close out the game.

Florida senior guard Will Richard scored on a putback with 53.3 seconds left to put UF up to stay at 86-84 with 53.3 seconds left. Then, after UNC guard RJ Davis missed a 3-point attempt, Florida whittled the clock down to 10 seconds. Alijah Martin missed a 3-point attempt for UF but forward Thomas Haugh hustled down a rebound off a long carrom and was fouled with 7.3 seconds left. Haugh calmly made both free throws for Florida, putting the Gators up 88-84.

Richard led four UF scorers in double figures with 22 points, with Martin adding 19 points. Davis led UNC (6-5) with 29 points.

Florida improved to 3-4 all-time against North Carolina and picked up its first win against the Tar Heels since beating UNC on April 1, 2000, in the Final Four.

It was UF's first single-digit victory of the season after beating its first 10 opponents by double figures with an average margin of 21.1 points.

Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:

Florida basketball gets off to a fast start

Fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Walter Clayton Jr. and Richard, Florida went on an early 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead over UNC and take the crowd out of the game. The Gators made nine of their first 15 shot attempts and six of their first nine 3-point attempts. UF led by as many as 17 points in the first half before taking a 46-34 lead into halftime. Richard sparked UF's offense with 13 points in the first half while guard Denzel Aberdeen added nine points off the bench.

Florida basketball fails to answer the bell to start the second half

UF allowed North Carolina back into the game, as the Tar Heels started the second half on an 11-0 run, cutting UF's lead to 46-45 on a jumper by Davis.

Turnovers nearly doom Florida basketball

Florida turned the ball over 17 times in the game, with UNC scoring 24 points off turnovers. Clayton and Martin each had four turnovers, while Alex Condon turned the ball over three times.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1