Florida State hung with the defending national champion for 40 minutes.

The Seminoles just fell a shot short.

Robert McCray V scored 29 points — shooting 9 of 21 from the floor and 9 of 12 from the free-throw line — but Florida held off a late FSU run, with the No. 10 Gators taking a 78-76 win on Tuesday.

McCray has shown to be a high-level distributor, recording a school-record 17 assists in the opener. But he also displayed how much he's a high-level scorer, putting his body on the line frequently as he drove the lane to the rim.

On a night when a few stars struggled and the Seminoles shot just 9 of 34 from 3-point range, McCray had the Seminoles (2-1) a possession away in the final seconds.

McCray took the inbounds pass and missed an off-balance 3-pointer, Florida rebounded and FSU fouled with 5.7 seconds to go.

Loaded with big men, Florida had a lopsided rebounding advantage (57-35) and 17 offensive rebounds. But FSU held Florida to only eight second-chance points.

Thomas Haugh scored 20 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, while Rueben Chinyelu had 10 points and 16 rebounds as Florida (2-1) won its fifth straight in the rivalry.

The Gators had an 11-0 run in the second half to take a 66-57 lead with under nine minutes to go before the Seminoles climbed back into the game.

Kobe Magee had 14 points and a team-leading nine rebounds for FSU. Chauncey Wiggins had 11 points and five rebounds.

Alex Steen had eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 6:50 to go.

A few of FSU's regulars had off nights. Lajae Jones had three points on just 1 of 10 shooting. Martin Somverville had five points on 1 of 7 shooting.

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