Forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. matched his season high with 20 points and Florida pulled away from Miami in the second half for a 78-58 victory Friday in the semifinals of the Charleston (S.C) Classic.

The Gators will meet No. 18 Xavier on Sunday in the championship game. The Hurricanes will oppose Connecticut in the third-place game.

After playing just eight minutes against Saint Joseph's when he was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul early in the second half, Blackshear scored the first eight points of the game for the Gators and hit six of his 12 shots from the field.

Guards Scottie Lewis with 13 and Ques Glover with 11 and forward Keyontae Johnson with 12 also were in double figures for the Gators (4-2), who have held the opponent under 63 points in all six games.

Guard Chris Lykes scored 16 points to lead the Hurricanes (4-2).

The two teams put on a shooting clinic for a good part of the afternoon. The Gators shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27 in the first half and 53.6 (30 of 56) for the game. The Hurricanes were an even 50 percent (14 of 28) in the first half but a 3-for-17 slump over the last 12 minutes dropped them to 41.6 (23 of 55) for the game.

It was also a game of runs for both teams. The Gators broke the game open with by outscoring the Hurricanes 24-4 run to take a 76-53 advantage into the last 2:44.

In the first half the Hurricanes had spurts of 7-0 and 8-0, and the Gators had a 17-0 surge for a 25-14 advantage just past the midpoint of the period.

The Gators assumed their largest lead of the half at 28-16 before Miami closed the cap to a more manageable 28-24 with the 8-0 spurt.

--Field Level Media