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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>Dorian Finney-Smith dunks during Florida's 72-47 win against Mississippi State on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.</p>

Dorian Finney-Smith dunks during Florida's 72-47 win against Mississippi State on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.

Dorian Finney-Smith may have scored just one basket Tuesday night against Alabama, but it was the one that counted.

With just 21 seconds left in regulation and the game tied at 50, the redshirt junior forward slammed home what may have been the most crucial dunk of his career to give the Gators a 52-50 win over the Crimson Tide on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Florida (11-9, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) came into Tuesday’s matchup on a three-game losing streak but halted the slide at Coleman Coliseum in UF’s lowest scoring game of the season.

Finney-Smith followed up the clutch play with a game-sealing block and rebound to give UF its first win since Jan. 15.

Florida’s defense came out strong from the start on Tuesday, forcing Alabama (13-7, 3-4 SEC) to turn the ball over 12 times in the first 20 minutes of regulation.

The Gators capitalized on its defensive success, entering halftime with a 35-22 advantage.

But Florida double-digit lead was almost thwarted when Florida became plagued with turnovers. Within the first five minutes of the second half, the Gators had committed more turnovers (five) than points scored (two).

Eli Carter scored a team-high 13 points against Alabama but had to battle through blood in the second half.

An elbow to the face from Finney-Smith sidelined Carter as blood gushed out of his nose and through the towel he clutched to his face.

The Gators held a slight lead over Alabama when Carter exited, but the Crimson Tide came roaring back. At the 10:09 mark when the junior guard subbed out, the Gators were still leading by three points.

Less than three minutes later, the Crimson Tide had tied the game at 41 for the first time in the game.

But that didn’t last long — 31 seconds to be exact — before Florida was back on top.

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Alabama quickly tied things up again when Crimson Tide junior Ricky Tarrant nailed a three-pointer less than a minute removed from exiting with an apparent right foot injury.

The next one and a half minutes that followed was the longest period of the game with the two teams knotted up at 50.

But Finney-Smith’s heroics secured Florida its first win in more than a week.

 Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa

Dorian Finney-Smith dunks during Florida's 72-47 win against Mississippi State on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.

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