It looked like we could be in for some Tucker Civic Center magic.

After the Florida State men's basketball team trailed rival Florida by double-digits for essentially the entire second half, the Seminoles made a late charge, cutting the deficit to four points with 2:21 left.

That stunning ending and an upset win was not to be, though. The 20th-ranked Gators (4-0) responded with a 10-0 run of their own to hold off the Seminoles (3-1) and escape with an 87-74 win.

The loss is FSU's fourth in a row to Florida. The Seminoles had won seven in a row in the rivalry before this current losing streak.

"I've got to give Florida credit because I think they showed they're a little further along than we are at the same stage this time of year," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They made us work for everything."

Looking back now, the game was effectively lost for the Seminoles in a first-half stretch where the Gators went on a 14-2 run over four minutes of game time to turn a 23-17 UF lead into a 37-19 lead.

The Seminoles cut that deficit to 13 points by halftime and to single-digits eight different times in the second half. However, they couldn't really the deficit to striking distance until the closing minutes, with Florida responding to each FSU attempt at a run impressively well.

Jamir Watkins led the way for the Seminoles with 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. However, the normally consistent free-throw shooter managed to make just 5 of his 11 free throws, leaving points FSU could have badly used at the line. He also missed a significant stretch of the second half after picking up a pair of fouls well away from the basket in the opening minute of the second half.

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. led the way for the Gators with 25 points, largely aided by making four three-pointers.

Friday's game certainly presented quite a jump up in terms of opponent intensity from what FSU had gone against in its first three games of the season.

It's fair to say that FSU didn't always handle that the best against the Gators.

Florida held a commanding 47-29 advantage in the rebounding column. The Gators had nearly as many offensive rebounds (13) as FSU had defensive rebounds (15) and turned those into 16 second-chance points.

UF shot 66.7% (22 of 33) on two-point shots. FSU, on the other hand, nearly hit a better percentage of its threes than it did its twos. The Seminoles shot 40% on their two-point shots (20 of 50) and were 11 of 21 on layups. It sure appeared that the Gators' physicality and length bothered FSU at both ends of the court.

"That's something we have not adjusted to the entire season. Not only did we not do a good job rebounding vs. Florida, we have not rebounded well throughout the season," Hamilton said. "That's just a mindset thing, a mature mindset we have to get to."

Through FSU's first three games this season, three-point shooting has not been a strength. The Seminoles entered Friday's game shooting 21% from three-point range on the year.

When FSU started this rivalry game making both of its first two three-pointers, you wondered if this was going to be one of those nights.

Then, the Seminoles missed nine of their next 10 threes, hitting quite a cold stretch that carried into the second half.

However, they kept up with UF early in the second half when Watkins was riding the bench in large part because the perimeter shooting got hot again. Specifically from UTSA transfer Justin Thomas, who made three straight threes in quick succession after he was 2 of 9 (.222) on the season entering Friday's game.

Thomas finished with 11 points for his first double-digit showing as a Seminole.

FSU finished with a season-high seven made three-pointers, shooting 35% as a team from outside the arc to at least partially their underwhelming two-point shooting performance vs. the Gators.

FSU stays at home early next week to close out this three-game homestand vs. Hofstra (3-0) Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.