INDIANAPOLIS — The question put to Mike White was about his Florida team's consistency. References were made to the rough start through four games that gave way to an impressive three-game run to the Charleston Classic title and was promptly followed by a relatively listless win over what should have been an outmanned Marshall team. 

Now White was behind the post-game microphone following UF's 76-62 loss Saturday afternoon to 24th-ranked and unbeaten Butler before a packed, jumping and sold-out Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd. The Gators (6-3), in falling behind by 19 in the second half, shot just shy of 44 percent for the game, including 23 percent from the 3-point line by making just six of 26, and never threatened the on-point Bulldogs (9-0) in the second half. 

So, what about that lack of consistency, Coach? 

"I think we're kind of consistently … this," White said. 

And "this" is nothing like what the UF coaching staff and players had in mind coming into the season, nor the product they intend to settle for. The Gators, winners of four straight before heading to the Hoosier State, had three days to get ready for the deadly disciplined Bulldogs, which made the poor practices the team rolled out in advance of such a key road game all the more disappointing. 

Despite getting two quick fouls on Butler senior guard, scoring leader and preseason Big East Player of the Year candidate Kamar Baldwin, the Gators fell prey to the Bulldogs' deliberate possessions, precision passing, back-door cuts and 3-point shooting. Junior guard Aaron Thompson, the team's lone starter not averaging in double figures, went for a season-high 16 points by making six of his seven shots to go with four rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers, as Butler won its 56th consecutive non-conference home game, the longest such run in the nation. Forward Sean McDermott had 16 points, highlighted by some big-most 3s, backup forward Jordan Tucker had 13 off the bench, and Baldwin had 12 points and six assists. 

"This is an unselfish team," Thompson said. 

That it is. Butler shot 52 percent for the game, 45 percent from deep, and assisted on 19 of its 26 field goals. If a UF defender turned his head, he got back-cut. If the Gators were closely guarding (and oftentimes they were), the Bulldogs were passing until they found the open man. 

The better team won by playing its brand of basketball.

Said White: "They're more disciplined than us, they just are. And that's on me."

"You definitely have to give them credit. They were up to par, up to the standard our coaches prepared us for," said UF graduate-transfer Kerry Blackshear, who led his team with 17 points and five rebounds. "But there were some things we could have done better if we stuck to our principles and if we stayed consistent on the defensive end of the floor. We showed tidbits of what we can do when we're locked in and engaged on defense." 

Tidbits of good defense won't work against Butler. 

"You have to be on your Ps and Qs all the time," said Florida sophomore guard Noah Locke (11 points) of an opponent that came into the game ranked 17th in offensive efficiency, but was the 11th slowest-playing team in the nation by tempo. "With such a disciplined offense like that, you have to be just as disciplined on defense." 
 
Florida, despite going scoreless for a five-minute stretch in the first half, led by six, 19-13, with less than eight minutes to go when the Bulldogs, starting with a late-clock 3-pointer from Baldwin, took off on a blitz of 22-6 to end the half, with one run of 11 straight points. Along the way, they hit all six field-goal tries, including a trio of 3s, and went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, while the Gators were going 3-for-9, 1-for-4 and 0-for-4, respectively. 

Locke's 3-pointer with 45 seconds to go appeared to settle the Gators somewhat, drawing UF within 26-20, but two free throws from McDermott were followed by a missed 3 by Blackshear that turned into a transition 3 (and swish) by McDermott at the buzzer, sending the crowd into a tizzy and Butler into the locker room with all the momentum. 

UF got as close as six early in the second half, but wouldn't get any closer allowing Butler to shoot 52 percent for the period. 

Afterward, White had a litany of complaints about his team's defense. And all-around mindset.

"Just getting back cut. Jumping on shot fakes. Miscommunication on ball screens in transition defense. Lack of sprinting out of traps. Not playing off two feet. Moving screens. So many things we have to get better at, but we have to be bought into getting better," White said. "We can't be well, 'I'm supposed to be this, so that's what I'm concerned with, so I'm going to get mine.' Our culture has to be better. It just does. Our locker room has to get better. We're painfully immature as a team right now. We've got to mature on the court, off the court, preparation for practice, middle of practice, after practice. We've got a bunch of guys who just have not experienced success at this level." 

He wasn't finished. 

"As I've said for six weeks, we need KJ Blackshear to be All-World and and I've got to figure out how to utilize him better and those [players] do, too. We need three sophomores to play like seniors. And we've got to have five freshmen, when we're playing that many on a given night, we've got to have them produce." 

Later came a question about the Florida offense that came into the game shooting just 30 percent from the 3-point line, yet launched 26 attempts from distance (a bunch of them clean looks) against a defense that was defending the arc at 27 percent on the season. Again, the Gators made just six. Inside the 3-point line, the Gators made 15 of 22. 

Was that the plan? To keep firing away from deep? 

"Some of you guys will say I'm nuts … [but] that was our best offensive performance. It was," White said. "I thought [the ball] moved better. I thought we executed better. We missed 20 3s against a team that is potentially a top-10 defense, and I thought we had some pretty good looks."

If the Gators keep this shooting up they'll keep getting those looks, but there's a prevailing confidence within the team that eventually the percentages will even out, based on how they mostly fall in practice. 

But there's a much, much bigger-picture element with regard to practice. 

"[Some of] these guys have got to find their way — and it can't be their way," White said. "It has to be a winning formula for Division I, which they haven't been through."

They're meeting some difficult obstacles along the way.