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Solo Ball scored 19 points and No. 5 UConn earned its fourth victory over a ranked opponent already this season, beating No. 18 Florida 77-73 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.
Alex Karaban added 13 points and Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 points and five rebounds in his return from a lingering ankle injury that caused him to miss the previous two games. Malachi Smith handed out nine assists as the Huskies (9-1) shot 50%, including 59.3% in the first half while building a seven-point halftime lead.
Ball went 6 of 14 from the field and drained a trio of 3-pointers in a matchup of power programs that have combined to win the past three NCAA titles.
Xaivian Lee led the defending champion Gators (5-4) with 19 points but shot 5 of 14 and missed six of seven 3-point tries. Thomas Haugh added 18 and Alex Condon finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Florida shot 42.4% in a rematch of last season’s second-round NCAA Tournament game that ended UConn’s hopes for a third consecutive national championship.
The Huskies won their fifth straight game since a 71-67 home loss Nov. 19 to then-No. 4 Arizona, now the top-ranked team in the country. UConn also has wins over Top 25 opponents BYU, Illinois and Kansas.
The Huskies won for the 11th time in their past 13 games at Madison Square Garden.
The Gators held a 55-54 lead after a difficult layup by Haugh with 8:02 left, but Connecticut took the lead for good on the next possession on a jumper by Braylon Mullins. Karaban followed with a 3 after blocking Lee’s layup attempt.
Ball made a 3 and then a layup by Smith opened a 66-58 lead with 4:31 remaining.
Still, the Gators had a chance to tie it after Boogie Fland’s layup with 13 seconds to go and a turnover by UConn on the inbounds play. Florida was called for a five-second violation, however, and Ball hit a free throw to seal it.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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