ChompTalk.com

Florida guards Will Richard and Alijah Martin combined for 41 points as No. 7 Florida held off a massive second half rally by the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Jumpman Invitational Tuesday night. Florida pulled away in the final minutes to collect the 90-84 victory to improve to 11-0 on the season.

The Gators joined the 2005-06 NCAA championship team as the only in program history to open the season with eleven wins.

Florida raced out to a 35-17 lead in the first half, thanks largely to going 6-12 from three-point range early on. UNC ended the period on a run that saw them enter the break down by just twelve.

The Tar Heels capitalized on that momentum and scored the first eleven points out of the half and eventually took a 70-68 advantage with less than eight minutes to play.

But the Gators continued to fight, led by Richard’s 22 point, six rebounds effort and a 19 points, five rebounds, six assists night from Martin.

Richard completed a second-chance opportunity with a putback that put Florida back ahead with under a minute remaining. The Gators wouldn’t relinquish the lead again.

For North Carolina (6-5), senior guard RJ Davis led all scorers with 29 points.

As a team, Florida shot 46% from the floor and made 11-32 from three. Additionally, the Gators outrebounded the Tar Heels by ten, 46-36.

Florida returns to the O’Dome Saturday against North Florida. The Ospreys are 7-5 overall but have claimed power five wins over South Carolina and Georgia Tech already this year. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 PM.