GAINESVILLE, Fla. — This may be a good time for the Florida basketball team (as well as its fans) to hit reset on the expectations meter after what happened Sunday at sold-out Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. 

The Gators may be ranked sixth in the country, but their performance in Sunday's 63-51 loss to Florida State — and the sixth straight win for the Seminoles in the rivalry series — more closely resembled that of the sixth ranked team, oh, say, in the state. FSU, specifically its defense, had a lot to do with that, with the humbling result perhaps a good thing for this youthful team to have to deal with so early in the 2019-20 season. 

"I feel like we had a lot of type behind our name, so it probably got to some of the players ... like me," UF sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson said. "Everyone saying that we're one of the top ranked teams? This game can show us that we really are not that good, like we've got room to improve on."

Lots of room.

Florida State sophomore guard Devin Vassell led three teammates into double-figure scoring with 13 points, but like it has been the last several seasons it was the FSU defense that threw down on the Gators, limiting them to just 28-percent shooting for the game and a head-shaking 4-for-22 display from the 3-point line (18.2 percent). Junior guard M.J. Walker had 12 points, third-year sophomore forward Malik Osborne had 10 points, and senior point guard Trent Forrest scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished seven assists and floor-generaled his team to 45-percent shooting in the second half, including 4-for-8 from the 3-point line. 

Florida (1-1), meanwhile, shot just 22 percent in this first half and trailed by four at the break. Four possessions into the second half, the Seminoles (1-1) had as many baskets as UF had turnovers, as the Gators quickly fell behind by 10, then 13, then 16, and never got the lead below double digits. 

As we struggled to score it affected our defense," said UF coach Mike White, now winless in five cracks at the Seminoles. "We weren't very good. I wasn't very good, period."

It was a team-wide theme.

Johnson led UF with a game-high 19 points, hitting all six of his second-half field goals and accounting for all but two of UF's baskets. He also had four of the Gators' 16 turnovers (compared to nine for FSU). Grad-transfer center/forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. tallied 10 points and a game-best 13 rebounds, but was 0-for-5 from the floor. Sophomore shooting guard Noah Locke, who set a team record last season for 3-point makes by a freshman, was 1-for-11 overall and 0-for-7 from the arc. Combo guard Tre Mann, a scorer by trade, went 1-for-6. That 4-for-22 from distance equated to 18.9 percent, making the Gators 7-for-37 through the first two games of the season (also 18.9 percent). 

"We know there are a lot of things that we need to work on. Playing that game makes it more evident for us," Blackshear said. "It can be a big wake-up call and it can show this team how it can come together rather than splinter."

Against the Seminoles, they splintered. 
 
UF defended at a high level out of the gate, but had little to show for on the offensive end. The Gators use their defense to create offense, but making just six of 27 shots through 20 minutes — all the while holding the Seminoles to just 25 percent from the floor — wasn't what they had in mind and never let them lead by more than three points. 

FSU led, 25-21, at the break, then got a slam from Vassell and consecutive layups from Osborne to quickly open the second-half cushion. Two free throws by Blackshear and a driving layup in transition by Johnson drew UF back within six, but redshirt sophomore RaiQuan Gray hit a wide-open 3 to start a run of seven straight points that doused the crowd's enthusiasm and pushed the Gators back down by 13 and playing uphill. 

That's been pretty much the story of this rivalry since 2014. FSU's first three wins during the six-game series winning streak — the second-longest by either team in the rivalry first played in 1951 — were by a combined nine points. Their last three have been by a combined 50. 

The Seminoles, in rebuild mode with six new players coming off trips to the Elite Eight in 2018 and Sweet 16 in '19, opened their season Wednesday with a 63-61 road loss at Pittsburgh. 

A different version came to the O'Dome. 

"That one probably had something to do with how we played [against Florida]," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "It snapped us back into focus." 

Maybe the same thing will happen for the Gators after this eyesore. 

"The reality is we've got a talented [grad-transfer], we have three sophomores that are coming off 16 losses [last season], two juniors that are hurt, and we have five freshmen that have no idea how to play a high-level game — and you've got a coach who did a horrible job [Sunday], especially offensively," UF coach Mike White said. "That's who we are." 

It doesn't have to be who they remain. 

"We're trying to learn to play together," sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard said. "It's going to take some time, but we'll be all right."