Dorian Finney-Smith of Florida left Colonial Life Arena with 20 points and seven rebounds notched in his belt that helped lead the Florida Gators to a 72-68 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks in an SEC bout.
Michael Frazier contributed 17 points of his own on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor for Florida (8-6, 1-0 SEC) as it snapped a two-game losing slide of its own, as well as South Carolina's seven-game winning streak.
Tyrone Johnson paced the Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1) with 20 points.
The Gators took a commanding 11-point lead on the scoreboard in just under six minutes after the opening tip-off, but the hosts battled back furiously to take a 34-31 lead into the half. South Carolina shot 50 percent from the field and limited Florida to a 2-of-8 clip from 3-point range in the first half.
The Gators shot just 40 percent from the floor after the break, but nevertheless was able to to take the reins of the contest behind an 18-of-20 performance at the charity stripe. South Carolina hit a scant 32 percent of its field goal tries in the second stanza. Johnson registered a traditional three-point play with six seconds left in regulation to cut the Gamecocks' deficit to a tantalizingly close 70-68, but Eli Carter drained a pair of costless-throws on the other end to put it safely out of reach.
Florida dominated the glass en route to a 37-23 victory in the rebounding battle. The Gators are now 1-2 in road battles this season.