GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kowacie Reeves sat and stewed on the bench while the Florida Gators were getting their brains beat in Sunday night against West Virginia during the Phil Knight Legacy tournament at Portland, Ore. His situation was merely a subplot to a nightmare performance that ended with Reeves and rest of the Gators stewing together on a red-eye flight back home that arrived Monday around 5:30 a.m.

The stewing continued with an off day Monday, gave way to a ferocious practice Tuesday, with the Florida frustration — for Reeves and the Gators — taken out Wednesday night in a 102-62 drilling of Florida A&M at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.

"Any competitor is going to want to play," Reeves said. "That's just how it goes."

Junior guard Trey Bonham scored 23 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting performance from the 3-point line, but the Gator everyone was watching was Reeves, who bounced back from his recent run of bench time by scoring 15 of his season-high 17 points before halftime. The duo led five UF players into double-figure scoring on a night a pair of starters, sophomore guard and second-leading scorer Will Richard (knee) and fifth-year point guard Kyle Lofton (back), were ruled out with nagging injuries that are not believed to be long-term.

For Reeves, the 6-foot-6 sophomore wing, the performance had to be liberating, considering he'd played just eight minutes over the previous 3 1/2 games after being benched at halftime of UF's big second-half comeback rally to victory at Florida State on Nov. 18. Reeves scored the game's first bucket on a driving slam-dunk, part of a 7-0 run to start for the home team, then hit a trio of 3s over the first nine minutes to help the Gators (5-3) rush to fat early lead and start putting some distance between that horrific 84-55 blowout loss three days earlier.  

UF coach Todd Golden and Reeves had a heart to heart in the aftermath of the team's trip out west. The injuries to Richard and Lofton presented a chance to act on whatever was said on those conversations.

And act Reeves did, going 7-for-13 from the floor to go with four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers over 29 minutes.

"He had an opportunity and he took advantage of it. I'm really proud of him for that," said Golden, who Tuesday took the blame in his handling of the Reeves' situation. "I know it's been a tough couple of days on him, not playing as much as he wants, and I want him to be upset about it. He's a competitor, a great young man. For me to see him go out and get off to such a great start, I hope that it allows him to continue to build confidence. I think of [Kowacie] as a guy that will be an impactful player for us moving forward, especially if he can play at this level, which I think he's capable of."

Reeves was happy with the game, but candid in his remarks about his recent situation.

"Coach ain't perfect," he said. "I ain't perfect, either."
 

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Bonham, however, was absolutely perfect from the 3-point line. By nailing all seven of his attempts, the 6-foot, 170-pound Virginia Military Institute transfer tied the UF single-game record — now held jointly with Matt Walsh, who went 7-for-7 in a win over Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 28, 2002 — for most attempts from the arc without a miss. Bonham hit five in the first half, including a gorgeous step-back from the left wing that swished at the buzzer and sent the Gators to the locker room up 50-31. Florida shot 69 percent in the first half (20 of 29) and 67 percent from deep (8 of 12), with Bonham and Reeves combining for eight of 10 from distance and 32 points at the break.

For Bonham, it was quite the turnaround from his outing against the uber-physical Mountaineers, who roughed him up and into an 0-for-9 performance after he'd averaged 17.3 points over the previous three games.

"No one was going to bully me out there today," Bonham said. Backup sophomore forward Alex Fudge had his first collegiate double-double, equaling his career high of 16 points to go with 10 rebounds (nine in the second half). Fifth-year forward Colin Castleton finished with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocks, with fifth-year guard Myreon Jones adding a season-best 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and 2-for-2 from deep. UF shot 62 percent for the game, went 13-for-22 at the 3-point arc and forced the Rattlers (1-5) into 19 turnovers that converted to 29 points.

But all eyes were on Reeves. And not because of his hair.

"After this weekend I had an approach-change to the game. I understand that I have to put complete trust in Coach and his decisions," Reeves said. "Me? Personally? This does a lot for me mentally, but at the same my whole approach to basketball has changed after last weekend. It'll do a lot for me, but at the same time, I'm good. Last week is over with. It's in the past. I don't want to talk about it anymore."