TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- With Anthony Roberson firing away from outside and David Lee hammering away on the inside, No. 22 Florida withstood every challenge from Alabama.
Roberson made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points and Lee matched his career scoring high with 24 in an 88-78 victory Tuesday night.
The Gators (13-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) held Alabama to four points in the final 6:31 and their two stars seemed to take turns hitting the big, rally-ending shot.
"We pulled together," said Roberson, who made 3-of-6 3-pointers in each half and had five assists. "We looked into each other's eyes and knew we needed to get this road victory."
Alabama (11-6, 3-3) overtook Florida briefly on Kennedy Winston's 3-pointer off a nice pump fake with 6:48 left for a 72-71 lead. Then, Roberson hit a basket and a free throw, and it was Lee's turn again.
Lee hit two free throws after rebounding Matt Walsh's miss from the line and added a bank shot.
The pair combined for 15 straight points for the Gators, who had no problem scoring against a team giving up a league-best 59 points in SEC play. Alabama had won 11 in a row at home.
"We played with so much toughness and heart and energy and we just came up a little bit short," Tide coach Mark Gottfried said. "We were playing as hard as we could.
"We didn't make as many plays as we needed to late in the game. We just didn't make them at key times and they did."
Antoine Pettway hit two free throws to cut it back to 80-76, but Roberson answered with his final 3-pointer.
Lee was 8-of-12 from both the field and the line and had four offensive rebounds. On the perimeter, Roberson repeatedly confounded the Tide defenders.
"He was coming off screens and making open shots," said Pettway, who had 12 points. "Every open shot he got, he made. It came back to haunt us at the end."
Walsh added 13 points for the Gators, who committed only seven turnovers.
Winston hit five second-half 3-pointers, including three in a row to bring Alabama back from a 13-point deficit in the opening minutes. He finished with 25 points, 21 after halftime.
Gottfried wasn't even sure Winston would be able to play until shortly before the game because of a sore knee.
Florida coach Billy Donovan praised the shots Winston made with the shot clock winding down.
"We played pretty good defense, and he was rising up and making shots with a guy in his face," Donovan said.
Chuck Davis had 15 points and 10 rebounds, but committed six turnovers and didn't score in the second half for the Tide.
Alabama was playing its second straight game without leading scorer Earnest Shelton, who watched in street clothes with a sprained knee ligament.
The first half featured a similar story: Florida tries to pull away, Alabama comes back, then falls short.
The Gators opened up a 12-point lead in the first half, then Davis scored 12 points in a five-minute span to cut it to 43-40 with 1:58 left. Alabama made 10 of 12 free throws in a five-minute span, all but two courtesy of Davis.
Roberson answered with two quick 3-pointers to stretch the lead and Alabama's last scoring chance ended with a shot-clock violation.
The Tide got one of their biggest wins in recent memories on the Gators' previous visit to Coleman Coliseum, when Pettway's buzzer-beating layup clinched Alabama's first SEC championship in 15 years in 2002.
Florida, however, has won six of the past seven meetings. It was only Alabama's fourth home loss of the past three-plus seasons.
"This was certainly better than the last time I was here," Lee said.
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