FINAL: No. 7 Florida 90, North Carolina 84

What happened

CHARLOTTE, NC — Florida sophomore backup forward Thomas Haugh knocked down a pair of game-sealing free throws with 7.9 seconds left, and the seventh-ranked Gators survived a furious North Carolina comeback and hostile partisan crowd Tuesday night at the Spectrum Center to claim a 90-84 victory over the Tar Heels and remain undefeated through 11 games for only the second time in the program’s 118-year basketball history.

Older guard Will Richard scored 22 points, including two go-ahead free throws with 3.8 seconds left, as the Gators, trailing by two with two minutes left, scored the game’s final eight points, grabbed the game’s final six rebounds and walled off a UNC offense, who shot 63 percent in the second half after shooting 29.7 percent in the first half to trail by 12 at halftime.

UF fifth year guard Alijah Martin scored 19 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists, but had four of his team’s 17 turnovers, which the Tar Heels converted into 24 points. Martin missed nine of his first 10 from 3-point range, but hit a huge one that tied the game at 82 with 2:26 left and helped ignite the comeback.

Tar Heels screen RJ Davis was sensational in the loss, scoring a game-high 29 points but missing a wide-open go-ahead 3 with 41 seconds left after the Gators had grabbed an 86-84 lead on an offensive rebound and putback by Richard. On the ensuing Florida possession after the Davis miss, the Gators ran out the clock and managed to get off a late Martin jumper that found iron. However, Haugh (9 points, 6 rebounds) was there to grab the board, was fouled and converted the free throws for a four-point lead.

At Carolina’s end, point guard Elliot Cadeau missed the front end of a one-and-one where Richard grabbed his sixth rebound and sank both free throws at the other end to wrap things up.

Florida, which built a 17-point first-half lead behind 53 percent from the floor, finished at 46.2 percent for the game, including 11-for-32 from deep (34.4 percent), 19-for-27 from the free throw line , but 8-for-8 in the final four minutes. UNC, which missed its first 10 3-pointers, finished at 45.8 for the game after going 19-for-23 from 2-point range (82-6 percent) after halftime.

Carolina, after falling behind by 17, scored seven of the final nine points of the first half to fall behind 46-34, then started the second half on an 11-0 tear to close within a point before Haugh broke the Gators ‘ cold with a 3-pointer. UF managed to cut the margin back to seven on another 3-pointer from the sophomore forward Alex Condon (9 points, 10 rebounds), but the Tar Heels kept coming, eventually taking their first lead since the first three minutes on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Davis with 7:56 left.

From there came four ties and six lead changes, the last coming after UNC saw a four-point edge, 81-77, within four minutes disappear. The Tar Heels led 82-79 when Martin drained his three. Cadeau answered with a driving layup at the 2:12 mark, but that was the last time his team would score. Martin’s two free throws tied the game at 1:49, then Martin forced Cadeau into a turnover with 1:27 left that set off Richard’s offensive rebound in Florida’s end.

What it means

After winning their first 10 games by double digits, the Gators needed a test like this. They passed and joined the 2005-06 NCAA championship team as the only ones in UF history to win their first 11 games. UF notched its second Quadrant 1 win of the season – second in four days, in fact – and put a third win over the Tar Heels (and first since 2000) in the books. With a run of five consecutive games (and wins) against major opponents ended, the Gators have positioned themselves to navigate their non-league schedule without a loss, and assuming business is taken care of on home soil the next two games, has a very good shot at taking a perfect record into Southeastern Conference play. Read on.

In the limelight

The 6-foot-9 Haugh finished with a plus-22 in just 20 minutes and did so against the blue-blooded Tar Heels in what amounted to a road game. He is a great player with a great future, but he is excellent in the present.

Staggering statistics

How about that 7-0 scoring advantage and 6-0 rebounding edge to close out a game the Gators lost? That’s the clutch, especially in this environment.

Next

Florida (11-0) is back in action at home Saturday with a noon tip-off against North Florida (7-5), which lost 95-81 Tuesday at UNC-Asheville. Yes, the Ospreys may have five losses, but among their seven wins are road games at South Carolina and Georgia Tech that should get the Gators’ attention.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at [email protected]