Will Richard scored four of his 22 points in the final minute of the game to help No. 7 Florida remain undefeated with a 90-84 victory over North Carolina on Tuesday night in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.
Richard’s putback layup gave the Gators (11-0) an 86-84 lead with 57.1 seconds left.
RJ Davis led the Tar Heels (6-5), who lost to a top-10 team for the fourth time this season, with a game-high 29 points and eight rebounds. But Davis’ attempt from 3-point range to take the lead with 44 seconds left clanged off the rim.
Alijah Martin tried to ice the game with a triple with 12 seconds remaining but missed. However, Thomas Haugh came up with the biggest offensive rebound of the game, then nailed a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach with 7.9 seconds left.
Elliot Cadeau was fouled on the ensuing possession and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Richard drew a foul and hit two more free throws for the final margin.
Martin totaled 19 points, five rebounds and four assists for Florida while Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Denzel Aberdeen also scored 12 points, Alex Condon put up nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds and Haugh paired nine points with six rebounds.
Cadeau, Seth Trimble and Ian Jackson each had 11 points for North Carolina. Trimble finished with seven rebounds and Cadeau had seven assists.
Florida closed out the game on a 13-3 run to continue its best start to a season since its 2005-06 national championship season.
But it wasn’t easy.
The Gators led by as many as 17 points in the first half before the Tar Heels stormed back, putting together a 15-0 run that spanned the two halves. North Carolina took its first lead since scoring the opening bucket of the game on a Trimble layup with 7:51 left in the second half, but could never stretch that advantage larger than four points.
North Carolina capitalized on 17 Gators turnovers, many of which helped to fuel its comeback. But the Tar Heels shot a dismal 5-for-28 from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
