CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Will Richard scored 22 points, Alijah Martin added 19 points and No. 7 Florida held off a furious second-half surge against North Carolina to remain undefeated with a 90-84 win Tuesday night in the Jumpman Invitational.

RJ Davis had 29 points and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (6-5), who rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half to build a four-point lead late in the second half.

Florida (11-0) took a 35-17 lead after making 6 of 12 three-pointers, while UNC missed its first 11 shots from long range.

But the Tar Heels closed the deficit to 12 at halftime and then started the second half with an 11-0 run after increasing their defensive pressure, creating turnovers and taking advantage of transition opportunities. The Tar Heels finally took a 70-68 lead with 7:56 left when Seth Trimble made a steal and scored a layup at the other end.

But Florida was strong down the stretch, and Richard’s rebound off an offensive rebound gave the Gators the lead for good with 54 seconds left.

Takeaways

Florida: The Gators were 11 of 32 from 3-point range and never panicked, even when the Tar Heels rallied.

North Carolina: Lack of size continues to be an issue for the Tar Heels, but they made up for it with aggressive defense in the second half.

Key moment

With two putbacks, Davis missed an open 3. Florida got its own rebound on the next possession and Thomas Haugh made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left to tie the game.

Important statistics

The Gators outrebounded the smaller Tar Heels 46-36.

Next

Both teams are in action on Saturday when Florida hosts North Florida and UNC hosts No. 21 UCLA.

——

Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 Basketball throughout the season. Register here. AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball