UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Senior Dorian Finney-Smith and junior Kasey Hill each scored 13 points and Florida rallied from a six-point deficit in the final six minutes to defeat Saint Joseph's 74-63 Saturday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.
Despite hitting only 4-of-10 shots from the field, Finney-Smith put the final punctuation on the win with a 3-pointer with just over one minute remaining.
The victory keeps Florida (3-0) unbeaten under first-year coach Mike White and sends the Gators into Sunday's championship game against Purdue, a 61-39 winner over Old Dominion.
James Demery led Saint Joseph's (3-1) with 17 points. Isaiah Miles had 16 and DeAndre' Bembry tallied 10.
Florida led 46-40 with 13 minutes left in the game. But a 3-pointer by Lamarr Kimble with 11:21 remaining cut the Gators' lead to one point. After a Florida miss, the Hawks got the ball into transition and Kimble hit a layup with 10:40 remaining to put Saint Joseph's ahead 47-46.
The Hawks took advantage of a dry spell by the Gators, when they missed 12 of 14 shots. The Hawks got consecutive 3-pointers from Miles and the second, with 7:22 left, gave Saint Joseph's a 57-53 lead.
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Miles hit the shot as the Hawks' bench screamed, "Put it up."
Demery took the next shot for Saint Joseph's and buried a jumper to increase the lead to six points with 6:39 remaining. But the Gators didn't go away. A dunk by John Egbunu put Florida in front 64-62 with 3:10 left. Finney-Smith extended the lead to 66-62 on a jumper with 2:25 remaining.