Florida vs. West Virginia: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

West Virginia guard Jevon Carter (2) dribbles past Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Gainesville, Fla.

One player typically doesn’t make up for a double-digit deficit alone, but as the first game without Holton in the mix, it’s clear coach Bob Huggins has his work cut out for him to regroup this team.

It gave first-year Gators coach Mike White a signature win and surely will help his team’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament in March. “We were able to get everybody to be productive when they got in the game”.

OFFICIAL VISITORS AT THE GAME: A host of official visitors were in attendance with Florida assistant coaches Saturday at the O’Dome. Then they kind of figure out they better play hard. Tarik Phillip and Jaysean Paige led West Virginia with 15 points each.

“When they came here, they guarded as well as anybody we’ve played”, Mulkey said.

Holton, who starts at forward, is averaging 9.7 points and 7.5 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game this season for the No. 9 Mountaineers. Most importantly, it shows our guys this is what we’re capable of. Point guard Chris Chiozza (89 assists, 26 turnovers) and Kasey Hill (63 assists, 40 turnovers) have been both steady with the ball this season. Gators reserve F Kevarrius Hayes went down because of an apparent leg injury early in the second half before returning three minutes later.

Until approximately noon, we presumed ninth-ranked West Virginia was this year’s contestant with championship potential.

“Today was one of those days where we put it all together”, White said according to Gainesville.com’s Kevin Brockway. “We got to be ready for war right off the tip.’ I think we handled it pretty well”.

But the Lady Bears have never visited West Virginia when the Mountaineers were ranked, adding a new element to a growing rivalry of talented women’s basketball teams in the Big 12.

On the other side, West Virginia has a SU record of 17-3 and an ATS record of 11-6.

Finney-Smith is averaging 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds over his last eight games. West Virginia had the nation’s best defense and nation’s best three-point defense entering Saturday, and got scalded for 88 points and a 60 percent clip.

West Virginia and Florida combined for 48 fouls and 47 free throws. “We knew going into the season we were going to need that for us to be a good team”.

The question moving forward for the Gators is whether this stunningly easy victory, accomplished with starter Justin Leon sidelined by a head injury, is an aberration?

The Gators only outscored West Virginia by 2 points in the second half as most of their damage was done in the first half.

“They’re just an elite defensive team”, White said.

Throughout the game, four different players made at least one shot from beyond the arc for Florida.

Kansas State’s 5.6 percent showing is the second-worst by a major conference team this season behind only California’s 0 for 12 at OR earlier this month.