COLUMBIA, S.C. — Whether it was the pressure mounting or the frustration does not matter. With three straight losses to open the Southeastern Conference slate, the Florida Gators had to do some reassessing, but also some self-reflecting. Coach Mike White had tried various ways to communicate with (even nurture) his players as they dealt with a lengthening shooting slump that basically extended up and down the roster. 

After making a season-low 36.4 percent from the floor and a woebegone 11-for-22 from the free-throw line in Wednesday's home loss to No. 12 LSU, White stopped asking and, instead, demanded a shift in mentality. 

Is my shot ever going in? What's my teammate going to think? Is coach going to yank me? 

He'd had it. Enough with the pouting and negative body language. 

"We have to step up with confidence and make a shot. If you miss it, either know you're going to make the next one, don't shoot it or come over and sit with us," White explained. "Defensively, let's put pressure on ourselves to get back to being a high-level defensive team." 

That was the pregame message and, as it turned out, the collective in-game behavior. The Gators played their most balanced and best offensive game Saturday in beating South Carolina 71-63 at Colonial Life Arena. Ten players checked in and all 10 scored. Freshman wing Kowacie Reeves, in just his second career start, pumped in a career-best 14 points. Grad-transfer wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr. also had 14 on 6-for-10 shooting. Senior forward Colin Castleton had 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots. 

UF hit a season-best 55.1 percent and dished 17 assists, its most in league play. 

"Everybody contributed, which is great," Fleming said. "We needed a game like this to try and get back to who we are." As in the team that started the season 6-0 with an attractive air of confidence and (this is key) selflessness up and down the rotation. 

"[Back then], no one cared about shots or offense," said Reeves, who was terrific in hitting four of his six field goals, two of three from distance, four of five free throws and making the hustle play of the game. "We put pressure on ourselves [Saturday] defensively and we challenged ourselves to get back to that physicality."

The Gators (10-6, 1-3) weren't perfect, but didn't to be. The Gamecocks (10-6, 1-3) weren't highly ranked like the previous three opponents, but didn't need to be. 

Florida needed a win and it needed to look like this one.

Backup junior center Jason Jitoboh hit all three of his shots over 12 minutes, grabbed four rebounds and a had a steal. Freshman guard Eli Kennedy scored five points during a run of nine straight points in the first half that helped the visitors build a 13-point lead. Grad-transfer Brandon McKissic only scored two points, but had six rebounds and four assists. Fifth-year senior point guard Tyree Appleby didn't start, but finished with six assists and just two turnovers, plus a couple steals. 

"We played more like the team we were earlier in the season," Jitoboh said. "That's what we've been talking about." 

Added Kennedy: "We've been dealing with some adversity the last few games, so this felt good." After a day off, the Gators will return to work Monday and upon review will see a number of flaws they were able to overcome; on the road, no less. 

Defensively, UF was solid, though USC didn't offer the challenge of LSU or ninth-ranked Auburn before that or 15th-ranked Alabama before that. The Gators limited the Gamecocks to just 34.7-percent shooting for the game, only eight of 22 from the 3-point line (.364) — which was very good — but they were smashed for a season-worst 21 offensive rebounds, with the extra possessions allowing South Carolina to stick around. The Gamecocks took 18 more shots (39-21) than the Gators in the second half, but didn't make enough to come back from a 13-point deficit. 

They got close, though. 

Florida, which shot 78 percent through the first eight minutes of the second half, led by 11 with 15 minutes to go and by 10 at the under-12 timeout. That's when South Carolina made a run, using back-to-back Castleton turnovers to turn into transition baskets, followed by a short jumper from guard Erik Stevenson as the shot-clock wound down to draw the Gamecocks within four, 52-48, with 9:24 to go. 

That was when Fleming picked a most opportune time to grab one of UF's eight offensive rebounds — on a short missed 3 by Reeves — and stick back a layup. That started a 10-1 run for the Gators, including a wicked, high-flying baseline drive and dunk by reserve forward CJ Felder, that took the lead back to 13, as the Florida defense forced six straight USC misses. The Gamecocks didn't go way, though. Stevenson (10 points) made a couple 3s and backup guard Chico Carter (12 points) made another with 1:11 left to make it a two-possession score, with the Gators up 69-63. 

After a USC timeout, the Gators ran clock and ended with a tough 3-point attempt from Fleming that missed and caromed off the hands of a group of would-be rebounders and floated across the baseline. That was when Reeves launched himself out of bounds, reached and directed the ball high and back above the UF key, where it was grabbed by Appleby, who was fouled with 37.2 seconds to go. 

Appleby, an 82-percent free-throw shooter, made both to take the lead to eight. 

"I pursued the ball and saved it," Reeves said. "I tried to make a play to help the team win a game." 

It was the kind of play a UF player — any player — would have made earlier in the season. 

For this team, where it was Saturday morning, that's progress. 

"Are we back to our identity? I'm not saying that, White said. "But we were pretty good today."