Blue Cain wasn't going to let it happen again.

Georgia had once again let a big lead, an advantage that once swelled to 26 points, slip away. The Bulldogs trailed No. 3 Florida 80-78 with just over a minute to play after allowing 13-0 run.

But this time, the Bulldogs flipped the script. Down by two, Cain hit a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs an 81-80 lead. Georgia (17-11, 5-10 SEC) didn't let the advantage slip away this time, toppling Florida (24-4, 11-4) 88-83 and sending the fans flooding onto the floor of Stegeman Coliseum.

"You're up 26 on number two, and then all of a sudden you're down. What an in-game response," Georgia head coach Mike White said after the game. "Unbelievable, especially for a group that's not overly old in experience. So I'm really happy for our guys, of course, but also really happy for our student section. President Morehead and Josh and our administration, the crowd was awesome. It was rocking in there, especially when we got up late. You could really hear our fans.”

For a while, Georgia seemed to be following its usual script.

The Bulldogs led by 16 at halftime, but the Gators slowly chipped away throughout the second half.

"I thought defensively they were really sharp early second half, and we didn't have that same downhill level of confidence and ball movement," White said. "We played a little bit tentative there early second half offensively. Not sure we got to where we really played as aggressive at all in the second half as we did in the first, and some of that is watching the ball go in against your defense.”

Georgia fought back to lead by 11 with 3:51 to play. Florida then ripped off the 13-0 run, capped by a layup by Thomas Haugh that put Florida up one with 1:28 to play.

A free throw 20 seconds later gave the Gators a two-point lead. White faced a decision regarding Cain, one of his best offensive weapons.

"There was a conversation amongst our staff, do we put Blue in, do we not put Blue in?" White said. "You think about a guy having to guard those guards who's been sitting down for a while. Can he help us offensively? Again, is he stiff?"

White elected to put Cain in. The sophomore then buried the biggest shot of his Georgia career to give the Bulldogs their first win over a top-three opponent since 2004.

"When Coach called the play, I knew what the play was," Cain said. "Silas (Demary) had been doing a great job of drawing two all night, and when he drew two I knew that would be open. And it felt good coming out of my hand, but I was just happy it went in."

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Georgia, who now sees its hopes for the NCAA Tournament rejuvenated with a signature victory.

"We had a couple outliers there, Missouri at home when we were just out of character in the second half as we talked about. But other than that, I think even with the losses, there's a gradual ascension, I think, of this team since the fall," White said. "That showed tonight, it showed at Auburn. We’re playing pretty well. But how do you continue to play well, you've got to continue to work and stay focused on the right stuff.”

- Silas Demary Jr. led the Bulldogs with 21 points.

- Freshman forward Asa Newell just missed another double-double, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds. Newell passed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for sixth-most points by a Georgia freshman in a season.

- Reserve forward Justin Abson led the Bulldogs in assists (5), blocks (2), and steals (3).

- Georgia shot just under 68 percent in the first half while building the 16-point halftime advantage. That included making 7-of-9 shots from 3-point range.

- This win marked Georgia's first victory over Florida since March 2, 2019.

- Georgia's last win over a top-three opponent came against Georgia Tech in 2004.