GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After blowing out North Florida by 32 points Tuesday night, Florida coach Mike White was asked if he thought the Gators should take some comfort in a lopsided victory on the heels of the disappointing all-around showing and missed opportunities at the Battle 4 Atlantis last week. 

"I hope they feel better about themselves offensively," White said after the 98-66 win at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. "They shouldn't feel good about the way they defended."

UF (4-3) shot better than 55 percent for the game, tied an NCAA record by becoming just the fourth team of the 3-point-line era to have nine different players knock down at least one trey, and had six players finish in double-figure scoring after arriving at the arena with just one player on the entire roster averaging at least 10 points. The Gators ended the night 16-for-28 from the arc (57.1 percent) and had a 42-8 advantage in bench scoring.

Freshman guard Noah Locke, in his third start since replacing fifth-year senior Jalen Hudson, poured in a career-best 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 from distance. Sophomore backup guard Deaundrae Ballard had 15 points, with a trio of 3s, and senior KeVaughn Allen (sort of) shook off his Bahamas slump with 13 points, five rebounds, a career-best seven assists and three steals. Freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard played a near-flawless floor game with 11 assists and no turnovers in 22 minutes.
 

#Gators tied an NCAA record tonight by having 9 players make at least one 3-pointer (Stone, Nembhard, Allen, Locke, Okauru, Hudson, KJohnson, Ballard, Fava).

Others teams to do it:
-Dartmouth vs BC (11/30/93)
-UF vs UT-Chat (11/18/06)
-Michigan vs Eastern Mich (12/13/08)

— Chris Harry (@GatorsChris) November 28, 2018

Yes, White saw some encouraging signs when his team had the ball, but tempered his enthusiasm after watching the Ospreys (2-5), a low-major out of the Atlantic Sun Conference with their "Birds of Trey" reputation for shooting 3s, get too many open looks on the way to shooting 41 percent overall and dropping nine from long range. 

No, those aren't necessarily alarming numbers, but the UF head coach has made it clear the standard this team has shown early in the season is not acceptable. On a lot of fronts.

"[Making 3s] makes the game easier for you, and usually provides more energy for you defensively, but I think it had a diverse effect on us," said White, whose team came in ranked eighth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. "I didn't think we were as sharp defensively as the last couple games, but it was obviously our best offensive performance."

For now, they'll have to live with that, but games next week against West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, followed four days later by a home date against current No. 11 Michigan State better get the team's collective attention; offensively and defensively. 

"We have to continue to clean up on the defensive end, stop the defensive mistakes and just keeping playing hard," Allen said.

Added Nembhard: "We did some good things, but we have plenty of things to work on. We have to strive for greatness."

 

UF used a run of 11 straight points in the first period on the way to opening a 53-33 halftime lead, as Ballard hopped off the bench and provided instant offense with 12 points in 12 minutes. 

"I've just tried to come and give the team all I have," Ballard said. 

Nembhard had seven of his assists at the break, having dished on five of the team's first eight field goals, with the Gators knocking down nearly 60 percent (22 of 37) through the first 20 minutes. In the last two games, Nembhard has 18 assists and stunning zero turnovers. 

Right now, he's Florida's best player. On both ends. And it's not close.

"He's really good. He was as good defensively as he was offensively," White said. "He's starting to lead a little bit. He's a terrific communicator. He's tough, he cares, he's competitive, he's unselfish. He could have gotten 10 shots up, if he wanted to. Eleven assists, no turnovers and he takes three shots? He's about the right things."

The closest UNF got in the second half was 17, but Florida went on a 12-3 run from there and eventually led by as many as 35.

In the end, the outcome and final score looked a lot like the wins against Charleston Southern and La Salle, games against lower-level competition the Gators are expected to win and do so by large margins. 

"I'm sure Mike's biggest concern is that they're shooting 40 percent against multi-bid leagues and shooting whatever they want against single-bid leagues," Ospreys coach Matt Driscoll said. "When you look at this team and see how talented they are on that side of the ball, and how much havoc they can cause on the other side, you see they have a chance to be dangerous." 

White wasn't buying into that so much. Right now, he doesn't have a "biggest concern." He has big concerns. And a single win — even by 32 points — over North Florida wasn't going to change that. 

"I'm in a place, still, right now, of frustration for the way I evaluate our guys' accountability level or discipline level, whether we win or lose; and leadership is something we're looking for, as well," White said. "Those are the things I haven't been pleased with at this point, and our guys know that."