Dan Werner narrowly missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, and the No. 23/21 University of Florida men's basketball team came up short, falling to Florida State, 57-55, at the Donald L. Tucker Center Sunday night.
Ryan Reid scored four of his 13 points in the final 1:20 to lead the Seminoles to victory in a game that saw seven lead changes.
"They're a very big team," said Nick Calathes, who led the Gators with 16 points. "They're probably the biggest we'll play as a team."
Werner added 10 points for Florida, which shot 39.2 percent.
Toney Douglas, the Seminoles' leading scorer, was 1-of-9 from the field and finished with a career-low two points.
"They made us earn every basket that we got," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That was a great game for us coming off a loss."
Florida coach Billy Donovan thought it was a good game for his club as well.
"Playing a good team on the road, we didn't shoot the ball well, but we gave ourselves a chance," Donovan said.
The Gators, who trailed for much of the game, went on a 19-4 run midway through the second half to open a 49-43 lead. Alex Tyus' basket midway through the second half completed a 10-0 spurt that gave Florida its first lead, 40-39, since the opening minutes.
Then it was back and forth Florida State got the lead for good at 52-51 on Reid's two free throws with 1:20 left.
Florida State shot 27.6 percent in the first half but still led 26-25 at halftime.
Florida returns to action on Wednesday when the Gators host Florida Gulf Coast University in their final game before taking a 10-day break for exams.
