Florida Gators

COLUMBIA, Mo. — As he made his way off the Colonial Arena floor and toward the visitors' locker room Tuesday night, Andrew Nembhard was stopped by Jimmy Dykes, the ESPN color analyst who had just called Florida's 81-68 road defeat of South Carolina. Nembhard, the Gators' sophomore playmaker, was magnificent in victory, scoring 21 points and dishing 10 assists en route to the first double-double of his career.

Dykes, who three nights earlier was on the mic in Gainesville when Nembhard went for a career-high 25 points to lead UF's stirring comeback and double-overtime win over Alabama, put his arm around the Gators star and heaped a handful of praise in Nembhard's direction.  

"Keep it up, man," Dykes gushed. "You're playing like the best point guard in the country, right now." 

Nembhard politely thanked him and went on his way. His assistant coaches, in earshot of the exchange, were ready to dish some quick cautionary advice, but Nembhard, making like a seasoned collegian off the floor, stopped them short. He's learned a thing or two about blocking out "the noise."

"I don't even listen to that stuff anymore," Nembhard told them. "Next week, someone will be killing me. I don't care. I'm just gonna play."

Yeah, that'll work. 

"The noise," after all, will always be there. And always mean nothing.

The 6-foot-5 Nembhard, a five-star prospect, was the only UF player to start every game during his 2018-19 freshman season. He wasn't perfect, but he was awfully good in averaging 8.0 points, tallying the fourth-most single-season assist total (194) in program history, playing solid defense, growing into a leadership role, and being named to the 2019 Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team. There often were raves about his size, length, passing and vision, but also knocks on his lack of speed, struggles to finish and inconsistency as a shooter. Praise. Criticism. Noise. Eventually, Nembhard tested the NBA underclassmen process, got his feedback and opted to return to school. 

Now, it's January of Nembhard's second season, and he's the floor general of a rotation consisting of eight freshmen or sophomores, one fourth-year role player, and an outstanding grad-transfer. It was going to take some time to figure things out with this group, as well. In fact, so out of sorts was this collection four games into the 2019-20 that the UF coaching staff remade the offense on the fly, calling for more structure and, in essence, putting more on Nembhard's plate in terms of execution and traffic-copping. It worked. The Gators (10-4, 2-0) have won eight of 10 in the time since, including four of five, and will try to win a fourth straight Saturday night when they face Missouri (8-6, 0-2) at Mizzou Arena. 

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's 'Pregame Stuff' setup here] During their three-game victory streak, the Gators have averaged 95.6 points, shot 47.6 percent from the floor to go with 14.3 assists. Nembhard's numbers over that span: 16.3 points on 46 percent (5-for-12 from the 3-point line) and 9.0 assists. 

Correlation, right?

"I just think it's how the team is playing. I think we're moving the ball more, looking for the best shots, and I think it just ended up where I've had opportunities to make plays," said Nembhard, who sees his teammates settling into the revamped system much the same way he has. "I think we've just learned the pace that we want to play. Picking our spots; when to play fast, when to play slower. I think we've done a better job at that."

Credit Nembhard for talking team first. He's been really good at that since he arrived on campus in July 2018, just like he has been in running an offense.  

But it's difficult to deny his play has reached another, more rhythmic level. Case in point: In the first 47 games of his career, Nembhard hit double-digit assists once. He's done so twice in the last three games, including a career-best 13 in UF's 39-point blowout of Long Beach State on Dec. 28.

"You've seen it, we're all seeing the same thing. You can kind of read it in his body language, and with his actions, as well," UF coach Mike White said. "He's playing with a high level of confidence. He's really seeing the game well, making great decisions. Obviously, we're playing through him a lot and he's taking advantage of those opportunities."

Nembhard provided no hints that this considerable uptick in his game was coming; it just sort of happened, but obviously Nembhard was key to making it so. Yes, he's the guy with the ball in his hands most of the time, but Nembhard's continued development, the UF coaches believe, has a great deal to do with Nembhard's work habits. 

The ones he does every day. Sometimes twice. 

"He's a routine guy," assistant coach Jordan Mincy said. "Strict routine." 

Nembhard, like a 10-year-old with his first skills coach, still enters the gym and begins his shooting sessions with short, one-handed flicks, and works his way out away from the basket. Short game. Mid-range game. Eventually, he'll get to the 3-point line and move to his spots around the arc. 

Again, every day. Sometimes twice. 

During the offseason and preseason, the UF staff did more individual instruction with players than in the past, with Nembhard working on specific elements of his game daily. Nembhard and Mincy zeroed in on the two-man game around the elbow area — pin downs, handoffs — and being able to turn the corner and being adept at both a mid-range jumper (at 6-5, he's usually bigger than his defender) or hard-driving and finishing at the rim. 

"He's been really good in those areas," Mincy said. 

At South Carolina, Nembhard was able to get his own shot, be it mid-rangers or some clutch late 3s coming off screens. Seventy-two hours earlier, in the victory against Alabama, Nembhard's downhill attacks against the Crimson Tide were paramount in both the comeback and forging to victory in the overtimes.  OK, so Missouri will start the day as one of the best defenses in the country (No. 31 in efficiency on that end, plus 13th in effective field-goal percentage overall and in guarding the 3-point line, according to KenPom.com). The Tigers, though, will have a challenge on their hand trying to figure out what Nembhard is going to do — drive, pull up or pass — because he's rounding into a player who does all three really, really well. 

"It feels like his game's changing, but he's been doing the same stuff," sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson said. 

He's just doing it better, shots are falling, and the Gators — as a whole — are benefiting from it. But don't bother telling Nembhard that, cause he's tuning out "the noise." 

The Gators are benefiting from that, too.  

"I'm just trying not to listen to stuff that forces me to play in a different way than I'm supposed to play; in a way that's not better for the team," he said. "It's about filtering out the good stuff and knowing it's not the same as what's happening in the gym. The bad stuff? That really has nothing to do with the gym, either. None of it matters."

Instead, Nembhard's just gonna play.

Yeah, that'll work.