With a little more than a minute remaining, Chris Chiozza dribbled to his right, spun into the paint and passed out to Dorian Finney-Smith.
With no one near him, the redshirt senior forward stared down the basket and swished a three pointer, giving the Gators an eight-point lead.
The late surge proved to be enough for Florida, as the Gators (3-0) defeated Saint Joseph’s (3-1) 74-63 in their first game of the Mohegan Sun Tip-off Tournament on Saturday in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Florida will face No. 21 Purdue in the tournament final on Sunday.
After tying the game at 62 late in the second half, Florida went on a 14-2 run to seal the victory.
Kasey Hill and Finney-Smith led the Gators with 13 points each, and sophomore forward Devin Robinson had another strong outing off the bench with 12 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting, his second double-double in three games.
Just as it did on the road against Navy on Nov. 13, Florida started slow. The Gators began the game trailing 7-2 and didn’t earn their first lead until six minutes left in the first half.
A lot of it was due to foul trouble.
Center John Egbunu, guard Kasey Hill and Finney-Smith’s minutes were limited in the first half after all three players picked up two fouls. Within the first three minutes of the second half, all three had picked up their third foul.
In Hill’s place, Chiozza was given more playing time than usual. The sophomore guard finished with seven points and four assists on 2-of-5 shooting, including a heavily contested three pointer at the end of the first half.
The Tournament Championship between Florida and Purdue can be seen on ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @icohenb
UF forward Devin Robinson shoots a three-pointer during the second half of Florida's 104-54 win against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 16, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
