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The No. 5 Florida Gators completed an unbelievable 14-point second-half comeback to take down the South Carolina Gamecocks 70-69 on Wednesday night in Columbia.

South Carolina led by 14 with 12:48 remaining in the game, but Florida came all the way back to tie it with 52 seconds left. After Zachary Davis made 1-of-2 from the free throw line to give the Gamecocks a one-point advantage, Florida’s Will Richard drove down the lane and kissed a left-handed layup off the glass to give the Gators their first lead of the game with five seconds on the clock and secure an important SEC road win.

The victory improved Florida’s record to 17-2, which is tied for its best 19-game start to a season in program history. Conversely, South Carolina dropped its sixth straight SEC game to begin conference play and fell to 10-9 overall.

Richard was phenomenal all night for Florida as he led them with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from downtown. He was also a menace on the defensive end as he had three steals and a blocked shot.

Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin also scored in double figures for Florida as Clayton had 16 to go along with seven assists and four rebounds, and Martin scored 14 points and had three takeaways.

The Gamecocks controlled the first half of play as Collin Murray-Boyles played lights-out basketball. He finished the frame with a game-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with five assists as well. He, along with the rest of the South Carolina offense made a conscious effort to work the ball inside as they scored 20 points in the paint in the half. Richard led the Gators with eight points after the first 20 minutes, including two triples.

Florida trailed 36-29 at the break.

Six minutes into the second half, Walter Clayton Jr. knocked down a long ball to cut the Gators’ deficit to single digits. With this made triple, Clayton broke the Florida program record for most consecutive games with a made 3-pointer as he drilled one for the 42nd straight game. This broke the mark of 41 games set by Michael Frazier II in 2014.

Suffocating defense by the Gators and unforced errors by the Gamecocks allowed Florida to crawl back into the game and eventually win it. South Carolina turned the ball over 15 times, which led to 22 points for Florida off of them. There was also a glaring difference in the transition game as the Gators had a 22-0 advantage in fast break points.

The fight and never-say-die spirit that Florida showed in this game is a big reason why Gators fans are so excited about what their team can do in March. The Gamecocks led for over 38 of the 40 minutes in the game, but Florida battled back and pulled out an incredible comeback victory.

The Gators will head back home for their next game against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday in the O’Dome. Former Florida head coach Mike White, who is at the helm of Georgia, is 0-5 against his former team since joining the Bulldogs, and the Gators have beaten Georgia 11 straight times. Tipoff at Exactech Arena on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on SECNetwork.