COLUMBIA, S.C. — Just 72 hours earlier, Andrew Nembhard was wearing his home white uniform and answering questions about his career-best scoring performance in Florida's stunning, historic and record comeback double-overtime victory Saturday night against Alabama. 

On Tuesday night, a barefoot Nembhard, donning UF's road blue jersey and shorts, leaned against a wall in the bowels of Colonial Life Arena and talked about his first career double-double: a 21-point, 10-assist gem that led the Gators to an 81-68 road defeat of South Carolina. 

"It just kind of carried over to this game," Nembhard said, his answer just sort of tailing off. 

That's it? The Gators (10-4, 2-0) hit the trail for their Southeastern Conference road opener. They get 8-for-14 shooting from the floor, a trio of 3-balls on five attempts, plus three steals over a game-high 37 minutes from their sophomore playmaker who's captained an offense that oftentimes this early season has appeared directionless or out of sync, yet now is demonstrating a flow. He engineered them to 50-percent shooting in the first half and bombed a pair of clutch 3s and scored eight points in the last five-plus minutes when the always scrappy Gamecocks (8-6, 0-1) were in comeback mode. 

And that's it? "Just kind of carried over?"

Nembhard smiled his humble smile.

"I feel like I'm just trying to play the game, not force anything," he continued. "There were opportunities. They were doing a lot of denying [on defense] and I had to keep the ball in my hands. That gave me chances to get downhill and score." 

Now, that's more like it. Sort of like the current state (for now) of the Florida offense, which over the last four victories (in five games) has scored 83, 102, 104 (in double-OT) and now 81. Along the way, Nembhard's confidence — particularly in driving the basketball and finishing strong, as well as squaring up for 3s — has given the Gators a rhythm and something of an identity, not to mention a playmaker with some killer instinct.

"That's as well as he's played as a Gator," UF coach Mike White said of Nembhard, who he last two games has averaged 23.0 points and 7.0 assists over 39.0 minutes, shot 69.6 percent from the floor, 40 percent from the arc, and hit 10 of 11 free throws. "He just continues to improve. He's gaining confidence as a scorer, learning to pick his spots in transition versus executing in the halfcourt. He's an elite passer, a winner and a tough kid. You've got to have really good individual performances to score affectively and productively against a South Carolina caliber defense, and that certainly gave us a real chance. He was fantastic."

Not to be overlooked, sophomore Keyontae Johnson added another terrific effort to his splendid all-around season with 19 points and eight rebounds over 36 minutes. Freshman wing Scottie Lewis, back in the starting lineup, had 15 points, nine boards and went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, where the Gators collectively made 19 of 25 (including 14-for-18 after halftime) to help work through an icy shooting stretch when they missed 10 of 11 field-goal tries, but never surrendered the lead. Grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. finished with 11 points and five rebounds after sitting out all but two minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. With Blackshear sidelined, the combo of two reserves, freshman Omar Payne and fourth-year junior, Dontay Bassett, combined for seven points, 11 rebounds and two drawn charges, part of UF's 14 forced turnovers on the road. 
 
There was plenty that didn't go UF's way, from a hot shooting start by the home team and uneven free-throw count in the first half. The Gators persevered by staying the course, maintaining tempo and poise, shooting nearly 47 percent for the game (with 28 points in the paint) and defending the Gamecocks to 38.3 percent, including just 4-for-15 from the 3-point line. The Gators also won the battle of the boards, 42-30, and limited USC's leading scorer, guard A.J. Lawson, to 12 points on just 3-for-15 from the floor and four turnovers. 

"We just tried to fight through the adversity," Johnson said. "Coach told us before the game that we had to come into this one ready to play, ready for a fight." 

South Carolina had not played since a disastrous home defeat against Stetson on Dec. 30. Florida Coach Mike White figured his fiery counterpart, Frank Martin, would have the Gamecocks ready to come out with their feathers on fire. 

As it turned out? 

"We got out-toughed," Martin said. 

Not initially. USC, in the bottom third of the SEC in the key offensive categories, hit seven of their first 12 shots. The Gamecocks led, 20-16, after a three-point play from senior forward Maik Kotsar (18 points, 10 rebounds), and had a one-point lead, 28-21, on two Kotsar free throws with 8:18 remaining in the first half. A putback by Bassett, in for Blackshear, gave the Gators back the lead — for good, as it turned out. Four late-half points by Johnson had UF up by seven, but USC scored the last four of the period and went to the locker room trailing just 40-37.

The Florida lead was one, 54-53, inside 13 minutes when a jumper by Lewis, two Nembhard free throws and three more from Blackshear comprised a seven-point run and eight-point lead with 10 minutes left. The Gamecocks got it to three, but Johnson answered with three straight points. It was 66-60 when Nembhard drained a 3 with 5:25 to go. The UF lead again was six with just over two minutes left when Nembhard hit another trey. 

That one sent the maroon-clad fans for the exits. 

"Road wins are huge in the SEC, especially with so many freshmen being in this spot for the first time," Nembhard said. "This was a good stepping stone." 

And then that was it. 

"He was clutch," Johnson said. "He needs to keep it going."

The Gators are hopeful it all carries over some more.