Florida’s seventh three-pointer came from Kasey Hill, who dribbled up the court and pulled up behind the arc early in the shot clock, a decision that usually makes coach Mike White shake his head in frustration.
But not on Tuesday night.
"We were just feeling it I guess," forward Dorian Finney-Smith said.
"It was just one of those days where everything was falling."
The No. 2-seed Gators (20-14) made 12 of their first 18 threes in their 97-68 win over No. 7-seed North Florida in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament in Jacksonville, tying a 2009 school record for most three pointers in a first half.
No UF player seemed to miss — Hill, Chris Chiozza, Devin Robinson, KeVaughn Allen and Finney-Smith all made at least one three-pointer in the first half.
After taking a 19-14 lead to open the first period, Florida went on a 21-6 run to break the game open.
UF led by 32 points by halftime.
"Anytime you shoot the ball like we did and move it as well as we did, good things are going to happen," UF assistant coach Dusty May said.
"It all came together tonight."
Allen made four of his first five shots from behind the arc, including three in a row to start the game to add to his 13 points, while Finney-Smith led UF with 15 points and added nine rebounds and four steals.
Ten different Florida players recorded an assist, including Chiozza, who finished with a game-high seven.
Hill collected four of his five steals in the first half on his way to a 14-point performance. Egbunu, playing in his last game of the season after tearing a ligament in his right thumb on March 8, had 13 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting.
After the game, White said the sophomore center will undergo season-ending surgery on his hand on Thursday.
The Gators shot 51.5 percent from the field, its highest percentage since Feb. 27 against LSU.
"Once they got in a rhythm, and made one or two they started feeling it," May said.
"It was contagious."
Florida came out sluggish in the second half and missed 10 of its 14 three pointers, but its lead was too large for the Ospreys to overcome.
North Florida (22-12), the nation’s leader in made three-point field goals (411), converted on just 9 of its 25 shots from behind the arc.
"Our guys had a great approach. I think part of the reason was that they’re familiar with how good of players North Florida is," May said.
"They came in focused and wanted to do a good job defensively and they did."
Florida will face No. 3-seed Ohio State in the second round of the NIT in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.
"Twenty (wins) is a good number, but obviously we want more," May said.
"We’re gonna try to add some more to it."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
Florida center John Egbunu (15) lays the ball to the basket past North Florida guard Beau Beech (2) during NCAA college basketball action in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
