Gators Hang On to Late Lead, Outlast UNC in Jumpman Invitational

Charlotte, N.C. – The No. 7 Florida Gators men’s basketball team held off UNC in the Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday night, to win 90-84 in Charlotte.

GATORS WIN.#GoGators | Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/3FUQDxk8Bc
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) December 18, 2024

The Gators extend their undefeated start to 11-0. They’ll look to keep it going with a relatively easy next two games. The only thing impacted by this win from the Gators was their streak of double-digit wins. It has now withered away as they only walked away with a six-point win.

The hero of the night is Will Richard. Richard scored a team-high 22 points and shot nearly perfect from the field. He made eight of his 10 shots and three of his five 3-pointers. He also added six rebounds and two steals.

It was a dominant first half from Florida as they strolled to a 12-point halftime lead. However, the Gators were dealt a ton of adversity in the second half but managed to overcome it thanks to a late run to steal the game from the Tar Heels.

Gators Gain Early Control Against the Tar Heels

While the Gators didn’t get the opening two points in this game, they would get the next chunk of them over their opponents. After going down by two initially, they went on a 10-0 run to take an eight-point lead over the Tar Heels four minutes into the half.

From here, the Gators began looking like sharks in the water smelling blood. They gained full control of this contest and started to pull away.

It started with back-to-back threes from Richard to help generate a 16-6 lead for Florida. Then, coming off the bench, Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen poured in a quick seven points to follow up Richard’s outburst to put the Gators in front 23-10.

And Florida’s lead grew into a 17-point advantage with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Tar Heels slowly chipped away at the lead and brought it back to an 11-point difference as the half wound down.

The Gators went to the half up 46-34.

The one fault on the Gators in the first 20 minutes was the constant fouling on their part and needless turnovers. Every Gator who touched the court in the first half earned themselves a foul, leading to 13 free-throw attempts for their opponents. As for the turnovers, the Gators had nine of them, which gave the Tar Heels eight points.

Luckily, Richard, Alijah Martin and Aberdeen had the hot hands in the first half. Richard scored 13, Aberdeen had nine and Martin contributed eight.

Despite Offensive Woes, Clayton Jr. has Biggest Play of Game

The Gators stumbled to start the second half, watching their lead quickly slip.

They surrendered an 11-0 run to North Carolina and saw their once 12-point lead cut to just one point within the first three minutes of the half. The Gators finally got on the board from a Haugh 3-pointer that pushed their lead back to four points.

But the damage had already been done by North Carolina. They used this early surge to climb back into this one and even captured the lead a couple of minutes past the halfway mark, which was their first lead since the opening basket of the game. From here, it became a back-and-forth affair with North Carolina mostly in control.

But the Gators managed to lock in.

Over the final 2:44 seconds, the Gators would go on an 11-2 run to seal this game and it all began with a Martin stepback 3-pointer to tie it up at 82 a piece. Ultimately, the Gators wound up winning 90-84 to remain perfect on the season.

And arguably the biggest play of the game came with around 12 seconds left and the Gators holding just a two-point lead.

Following a missed shot from Martin, Clayton Jr. skied through the air to knock a rebound loose that Haugh made sure to reel in. The Tar Heels were forced to foul Haugh and he would knock down both free throws to give them the four-point edge in the final seven seconds of the game.

This play from Clayton Jr. was probably the best thing he did all night because, despite the offense struggles – 4-for-15 from the field, 1-for-7 from 3 – against the Tar Heels, he had the game-winning play.

Looking Forward

Looking ahead on the schedule, the Gators will be taking on North Florida this Saturday at 12 pm. It is scheduled to be televised on SEC Network. Then, after this game, the Gators welcome Stetson into town on Sunday, Dec. 29.