Tyler Cavanaugh pointed to the crowd.
His three-pointer fell through the net with 54 seconds left, giving George Washington a four-point lead to effectively end the game.
Then, with 9.1 seconds left, the redshirt junior made two free throws after being intentionally fouled to end Florida’s season.
A team-high 22-point performance from freshman KeVaughn Allen couldn’t lift No. 2-seed Florida (21-15) over No. 4-seed George Washington on Wednesday, as the Gators lost 82-77 in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals in Washington D.C.
"We’re better defensively than that. We come in here and score 77, and that should have been enough for us," UF coach Mike White said. "And it wasn’t."
With the loss, the Gators were eliminated from the NIT one game short of making the semifinals, which are played at Madison Square Garden.
Florida shot 43.1 percent from the field and finished with four players in double figures, but were unable to limit the Colonials’ offense for a majority of the game.
George Washington (26-10) shot 47.7 percent from the field, the most given up by Florida since its Feb. 27 road loss to LSU.
"We have a saying in our program, do your job," White said. "We got to be more accountable than that."
In his last game at Florida, redshirt senior Dorian Finney-Smith scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in a game-high 36 minutes, but fouled out with 16 seconds left and the Gators down by three.
Junior Kasey Hill finished with 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting and had a game-high seven assists.
"Kasey Hill has had the best month of any Gator on our team," White said.
The game’s tone was set in the first half when neither side could gain separation over the other.
It was Florida’s closest game of the NIT — the two teams tied 14 times and battled through 19 lead changes.
In its first year under White, Florida made a five-win improvement over last season, when the Gators failed to make both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.
"I thought we represented our conference and our university the right way," White said. "We had our opportunities, and we didn’t capitalize."
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @icohenb.
KeVaughn Allen looks to pass during Florida's 72-66 loss to Texas A&M on March 11, 2016, in the SEC Tournament.
