Five Gators, led by forward Dorian Finney-Smith scored in double figures and Florida fended off a feisty Ole Miss squad to come away with a 77-72 victory on Tuesday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.

Florida (16-8, 7-4 SEC) has now won six of its past eight games.

The Rebels (15-9, 5-6) had won three of four and were hoping to avenge a nine-point loss at home to the Gators on Jan. 16.

Finney-Smith finished with 16 points and six boards for Florida.

Forward Tomasz Gielo had 20 points to pace Ole Miss.

The Gators controlled the first half and opened a 10-point lead midway through on guard Kasey Hill's 3-pointer.

Ole Miss scratched back to tie the game at 29-all on Gielo's layup. Florida closed out the half with seven straight to take a 36-29 lead.

The Rebels came out on fire and within two minutes the game was knotted at 36-all.

Guard Rasheed Brooks' 3-pointer and a pair of buckets by guard Stefan Moody gave Ole Miss momentum and hope. The Rebels took a 40-37 lead on a 3-pointer by Gielo with just under 16 minutes left.

Then, the Gators got busy.

A 3-pointer by forward Devin Robinson squared the game at 40 and Finney-Smith put Florida up by five with consecutive buckets, one from beyond the arc, and the Gators appeared to be in control up by seven.

Ole Miss had other thoughts.

The Rebels climbed back into the game and were down two after Moody's jumper made the score, 50-48.

Florida's defense stiffened and Hill and Finney-Smith combined to put the Gators back up by eight. That margin vanished quickly with Moody doing all the work. A layup and six straight Moody free throws and the Gators' lead was 67-66 with three minutes left.

But the Rebels would not score until there was 41 seconds left and the Gators pushed the lead to six.

Robinson's old-fashioned three-point play with seven seconds left closed the scoring out.

Robinson and guard KeVaughn Allen each scored 15 for Florida.

Moody added 19 for the Ole Miss.