GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Five times in the history of the Florida basketball program the nation's No. 1-ranked team had come to town to face the Gators. In each instance, Kentucky was that team and left with a lopsided victory. 

The sixth time brought a different opponent, but the same result. 

As if top-ranked Baylor's beastly defense wasn't enough of an issue, the Bears brought their 3-point trigger-fingers from Waco, as well, and did a 72-61 number on the Gators in their SEC/Big 12 Challenge at sold-out Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center that really wasn't as close as the score might suggest. Guards MaCio Teague and Devonte Bandoo led four teammates into double figures with 16 points a piece, as the Bears (17-1) used 57-percent shooting in the first half — including 6-for-12 marksmanship from deep — to open a double-digit halftime lead on the Gators (12-7), then coast home with relative ease. 

Make that 2-17 all-time against Associated Press No. 1 teams for Florida, including a run of 10 straight losses dating to the 2007 NCAA title game victory against Ohio State. 

"They're on you," UF coach Mike White said, when asked what makes the Baylor defense, which began the day ranked fourth in KenPom.com's efficiency metric, so effective at guarding. "They've got good length, speed, quickness, and they're prepared. They're able to extend because they guard the bounce one-on-one so effectively that the other four can stay attached [to their man] more than other defenses."

The final box score showed UF outshooting Baylor for the game, but that statistic was misleading. The Bears, already with five wins over ranked opponents this season (including a road defeat of No. 3. Kansas), opened a 19-point lead six minutes into the second half while the Gators were trying to claw back from 39-percent shooting in the first period, along with a run of 12 consecutive missed 3s that bridged the two halves. Baylor blasted UF on the glass, 37-26, including 13 rebounds on the offensive end. And six different Bears had at least one blocked shot. 

This was a far cry from trying to rally against Alabama. 

"They're a great team and all, and I definitely want to give them credit," said UF sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard, who tallied 16 points and eight assists. "But I think it was more of what we didn't do compared to what they were doing. For us, I think we just weren't playing hard enough on defense." 
 
Didn't start that way. Actually, it was the Gators who came out of the gate with a purpose. Both forward Keyontae Johnson (20 points, five rebounds) and shooting guard Noah Locke banged 3s inside the first four minutes, as UF hit five of its first seven shots. When backup guard Quez Glover knocked down another 3 at the 13:35 mark, the Gators led 17-9. 

The Bears were unfazed. 

"We start fast, but they started faster," Baylor coach Scott Drew said, then paying homage to a rotation that features five players in at least their fourth college season. "That's where the experience comes in. We've got a lot of guys that have been through battles and they don't get rattled as easy as someone that hasn't." 

Or start feeling too good about themselves when things are going well. 

"Baylor tightened up a little bit and showed in the last 30 minutes of the game that they have an argument for being the best defensive team in the country," White said. "When the ball is going in for us, there's a tendency to take a deep breath and relax and have a feeling that it's all good. That we're in a good place. The best teams — the Baylors of this season and of the world — they play with a level of tenaciousness defensively whether it's going in or not. … They got some guys out there playing like maniacs and that's what you want."

The game was tied at 25 with less than seven minutes to play in the half when the Bears sped off on a 15-4 spurt to close the half and go into the locker room up 40-29. Three trips during the run netted three-point possessions, including a pair from distance by Teague and an old-time 3-point play by forward Freddie Gillespie (9 points, 7 rebounds). 

The Bears only needed six minutes of the second half to take the lead out to 19, courtesy of a 3-pointer from Bandoo, whose shot made his team 9-for-16 from deep to that point. Baylor didn't hit another 3 the rest of the game. Didn't need one, either. 

The Gators tried to make a game of it, with mini-runs of five and six points down the stretch, but the combination of missed 3s (the sharp-shooting Locke finished with just three points; Nembhard went 0-for-4 from distance), missed free throws (UF clanged three front ends in the second half), and a few more defensive lapses undercut any chance of making things interesting. Grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., the team's leading scorer and rebounder, got worked over inside on his way to just nine points and five boards. 

"We had a lot of breakdowns on defense, and they made us pay for it," Johnson said. "It just felt like [nobody was] accountable on the defensive end."

White was a tad more blunt. 

"We're casual. We're soft. At times, we lack the discipline that the best defenses in the country, like Baylor. We've not seen a big jump in maturity with this team," he said. "I hope everyone in our locker room is dissatisfied with where we are."