After an agonizing loss against No. 11 Gonzaga on Friday, Florida found itself on the wrong end of a 9-0 Miami run to start the second half on Sunday.
But in stepped redshirt freshman Keith Stone, who entered the game having played less than an hour total in his young college career.
Stone sparked a run that led the Gators (6-1) to a 65-56 win over the Hurricanes (4-2) to claim third place in the Advocare Invitational at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
Stone’s 15 points smashed his previous high of four, as he went 5-of-8 from the field with two threes.
Point guard Kasey Hill, a senior, said he was proud of Stone’s performance.
“Every day he comes to practice, and he competes. I think he gave us some great minutes,” Hill said.
“He’s gonna help us throughout the year.”
Hill, meanwhile, led Florida with 16 points, including 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Florida started the game sluggish, feeling the effects from playing three games in four days. But six points from Stone and back-to-back attacking layups from Hill gave the Gators a 27-24 lead. They turned that into a 34-30 lead entering half-time.
After a sloppy last minute of the half, coach Mike White could see exhaustion creeping in.
“It’s day four,” White said on a television broadcast at half-time.
“Both teams are a little bit beat up and tired.”
For UF, the fatigue showed when it emerged from the locker room.
The Gators missed their first three shots of the second half and turned the ball over, giving Miami a 39-34 lead.
“Miami’s very long and athletic. We’ve gotta do a better job defensively of just digging deep," White said, “knowing one of us is going home with two wins, (and) one of us is going home with one win.”
But after a quick scoring spurt and tight defense, the Gators tied the game at 43 and took the lead with another layup from Hill.
In the end, Florida forced Miami into taking enough tough shots, allowing the Gators to string together a series of runs.
Florida’s defense, powered by a four-block performance from center John Egbunu, held Miami to under 40-percent shooting and under 30-percent shooting from three.
But Miami’s offense had its moments, including a 16-9 advantage in offensive rebounds that led to multiple second-chance scores.
“It’s just something that we have to improve at,” UF assistant coach Dusty May said after the game.
“We’ve gotta get five guys pursuing the defensive rebounds a lot more than we are right now.”
On the offensive side of the court, the Gators hit more than 46 percent of their shots, largely due to efficient shooting from Hill, Stone and forward Devin Robinson.
Robinson has scored in double figures in six of Florida’s seven games.
Florida’s bench finished with 19 points compared to the Hurricanes’ 10, all scored by Miami freshman forward Dewan Huell.
May said that Stone’s breakout game showed how much of a weapon he can be in the second unit.
“He was phenomenal,” May said.
“His time is coming. Hopefully he keeps playing like this because he can be an x-factor off the bench.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
Florida guard Kasey Hill drives to the basket as Florida Gulf Coast forward Kevin Mickle defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday Nov. 11, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Bob Mack/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
