COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Andrew Nembhard flashed a grin late Wednesday night. The sophomore point guard had just done a number on Texas A&M and along the way joined forces with classmates Noah Locke and Keyontae Johnson, who all happen to be roommates, as well. 

"Our place is going to be happy tonight," Nembhard said. 

The post-game bus ride to the airport was happy. Likewise the charter flight back to Gainesville early Thursday morning after the second-year trio combined for 55 points and 57-percent shooting in UF's 78-61 beating of the Aggies at Reed Arena. The win was significant for the Gators (15-9, 7-4), as it put some distance between last weekend's dismal showing in defeat at Ole Miss and kept them in a fourth-place tie (with South Carolina) in the Southeastern Conference standings.  

Nembhard had 24 points and five assists. Locke, the shooting guard, dropped five 3-pointers on his way to a season-best 21 points. Forward Keyontae Johnson was good for his fifth double-double of the season in carding 10 points and 10 rebounds, but also a career-high six assists. The trio combined to make 21 of 37 field-goal tries, plus eight of 15 from long-distance, as the team shot 46.2 percent for the game and 47 from deep against one of the better defenses in the SEC. 

"Best we've moved it all year, best we've played offensively all year," UF coach Mike White said. "Their defense is unique in that they do a good job of disrupting you, but also swarming the basketball. They allow you, at times, no ball movement, and when you think you have a driving lane, you drive it and they really collapse well. They fly around and have great activity. For us to come in here and score 78, we did a lot well." 

Especially after halftime.  UF led by just three, 37-34, at the break after allowing A&M (11-12, 5-6), which came ranked last in the conference in both field-goal (.383) and 3-point percentage (.257), to go 12-for-24 from the floor and hit four of nine 3s, thanks mostly to forward Josh Nebo. The 6-foot-9, 245-pounder was 4-for-7, scored 10 points and forced UF's defense to converge on him in the post to little avail. Nebo drew two fouls each on UF "bigs" Kerry Blackshear Jr., Omar Payne and Jason Jitoboh. The former two had to take a seat.   

"The big guy was having his way," Nembhard said of Nebo. "He was giving us some problems, so we adjusted in the second with our double-teaming. He's a load down there and they were drawing a lot of fouls in the first half." 

The Gators, who were coming off a horrendous shooting day in the 78-61 loss to the Rebels, shot better than 46 percent and drilled eight 3s (four by Locke on his way to 14 points) through the first 20 minutes, yet couldn't shake the Aggies. 

Until the second half. 

"We were really sharing it better," Locke said. "We made sure everybody was touching the ball and it led to good shots."

The Florida lead was just two early in the period when Johnson put back his own miss and Nembhard followed the next time down the floor with a driving pull-jumper. The consecutive baskets started a run of 16-4 over seven minutes to push the visitors ahead by 12.  The way A&M plays defense — more specifically, overplays — a team committed to ball movement eventually will get a shot. Players deft at pass-faking, like Nembhard, can create lanes and attack them. 

"He started to figure it out," Locke said of Nembhard. "They were really hard in the gaps and when he faked a pass they were jumping hard, a gap would appear and he'd go get a layup. He's a really smart player and he played smart tonight."

Twice the Aggies cut the lead to 10, but the second time freshmen guards Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis connected on 3s that bracketed two Nembhard free throws and put UF up 18 on the way to a game-high 23-point lead in the closing minutes.

"We had opportunities and we took advantage of them," Nembhard said. 

Again, those opportunities were created, according to their coach, by the best ball movement of the season. It was a major point of emphasis during practice the last two days; practices Nembhard missed while resting an ankle he rolled at Mississippi. Didn't matter. 

In fact, White actually benched his standout playmaker in the first half due to a trio of traveling calls through the first 10 minutes. Nembhard sat, but responded like the floor general he is expected to be. 

"Andrew was really good," White said. "And he showed some toughness out there on that bum ankle." 

Nembhard played 37 minutes and went 9-for-11 from the floor, 3-for-6 from the arc, and hit all six of his shots after halftime, including some downhill drives through the overplaying Aggies defense. Locke was 8-for-17, including five of 10 from deep. Johnson was four of eight and had four of the team's 14 offensive rebounds (on 25 missed shots). 

"Their team is so good," Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. "They put stress on you in every possible way." The win was just the third on the road for the Gators this season, but the manner in which it played out — with a stellar offensive display and lock-down defense after halftime — was what sent the team (not just the sophomores) home so happy. 

"We really needed this one," Locke said. 

They're going to need more. And tey'll get more if they can blueprint the effort that traveled to Texas and come close to replicating the efficiency on both ends. 

"It's a huge win for us, especially being at an away site," Nembhard said. "These are do-or-die moments coming up. We have to string together some wins if we're going to accomplish what we want do this season."