The defending national champion Gators (6-0) had six players in double figures as Taurean Green scored 19, Al Horford 16, and the trio of Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah and Chris Richard each added 10. Horford posted a game-best 11 rebounds as well as UF won the battle of the boards, 44-21.
It was the first loss of the season for WKU, which fell to 4-1. Courtney Lee paced the Hilltoppers with 16 points, three boards and three assists, Benson Callier supplied 15 points and four rebounds and Tyrone Brazelton chipped in with 13 points. The Toppers shot just 38.3 percent from the floor while the Gators connected on 60.7 percent overall.
The Hilltoppers stayed close through the most of the first half, hitting six three-pointers in the opening 10-plus minutes. Callier, Lee and Ty Rogers all sank shots from behind the arc before the first media time-out, with the last giving WKU a 9-6 advantage. The Gators recovered to take an 18-11 lead with a 12-2 run, with Green starting the spurt with a basket at 15:50 and closing it out with 14-and-a-half minutes to go with a three-pointer.
Rogers would hit another trey and Callier then scored five points in a row to give WKU the lead back, 19-18, and the Toppers still held a 26-22 edge as Brazelton scored all seven of his first-half points in a three-minute and 19-second stretch. That’s when WKU would go cold, going scoreless over the next five-plus minutes as UF scored 13 straight points for a 35-26 advantage with just under six minutes to go.
The Toppers would cut the deficit to 39-32 with three field goals in the next two minutes, but the Gators scored the final 11 points before the break to take a 50-32 lead to the locker room. Brewer had 13 points in the first half, while Noah and Horford collected eight each. UF outshot the Hilltoppers 59.4-36.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Callier hit four straight free throws after the break, but the Gators sank their first six shots of the second half — four from beyond the three-point arc — in pushing the lead to 25 points.
Lee connected on his first six shots from the floor, finishing 7-of-11 overall. He was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and Rogers hit 3-of-6 three-point attempts to help WKU sink 10 three-pointers for the third time in five contests.
The Hilltoppers were also able to use seven steals, including three from Orlando Mendez-Valdez, to force 18 UF turnovers.
However, the Gators shot 90.9 percent from the free-throw line and were credited with 21 assists on 37 field goals.
WKU plays Ball State Saturday at 7 p.m. (CST) in the last of four games in the event.
