Finney-Smith, Egbunu steer UF to win

GAINESVILLE — Florida forward Dorian FinneySmith had a season-high 23 and center John Egbunu posted his first double-double at UF to lead the Gators to 70-50 win Friday night against Florida Gulf Coast University.

The Gators seized control of a close game with a 22-4 run to open the second half, with Finney-Smith and Egbunu combining for 14 points.

The duo recorded 40 points and 19 rebounds during the win as their teammates struggled.

“Those guys were really good, they played with a notgoing-to-lose mentality,” UF coach Mike White said.

FGCU led 33-32 at the half of this rematch of the school’s Sweet 16 matchup in 2013 — a 62-50 Gators win.

But Finney-Smith and Egbunu kept Florida (5-1) in the game, scoring the Gators’ final 18 points of the first half.

After the Florida’s run to open the second half, the Eagles (3-3) could not keep pace and finished with a season low point total.

Trailing 54-38, FGCU (3-3) did made a 7-0 run capped by a layup by MarcEddy Noreila. The redshirt junior from Orlando would finish with just six points, more than 12 below his team-leading average (18.4).

Baskets by Egbunu, Finney-Smith and freshman guard KeVaughn Allen soon pushed Florida’s lead back to 61-45.

Allen finished just 3-of-12 shooting, though, as Florida’s backcourt shot 6 of 29 and finished with just 16 points. The Gators were 5 of 23 from the 3-point line.

“Just struggling to shoot the basketball,” White said. “We’re searching right now for an answer.”

UF’s next home game is against Richmond Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will air on the SEC Network.

NORTHEASTERN STUNS UM: Quincy Ford took advantage of a Miami weakness to throw himself a homecoming party.

Ford, a Florida native, had a game-high 24 points and hit the game-winning jumper at the buzzer as Northeastern upset the No. 15 Hurricanes 78-77 on Friday, denying Miami its second consecutive 6-0 start and quieting the buzz surrounding the Puerto Rico Tip-Off champions.

Ford’s performance in front of about 30 family members and friends included a 5-for-10 outing from 3-point range. The Huskies (5-1) opened the game 6-for-6 from long range and finished 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from behind the arc.

“We felt very good coming from Puerto Rico. We were playing at a very high level,” said Miami junior guard Davon Reed, who led the Hurricanes with 19 points. “I think we still played at a high level tonight. We’ve just got to focus on picking up our defense, especially on the 3.”

After 7-foot center Tonye Jekiri emphatically rejected a shot out of bounds with 5.3 seconds left, Ford curled off a screen to make the gamewinner over Reed.

“We were going to put the ball in his hands,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “Great players make great plays. Quincy stepped up and made a big-time shot.”