TALLAHASSEE—Last season, guard Mike Rosario missed Florida’s meeting against Florida State with a lower back strain.
For the Seminoles, shutting the redshirt senior down was a backbreaking task Wednesday night.
Rosario scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting as No. 6 Florida (7-0) bullied FSU (4-4) in the Donald L. Tucker Center for a 72-47 victory.
“My whole mindset coming into this game was to be aggressive from the start,” Rosario said. “We did a great job as a whole team just being locked in, being on edge.”
Nine of Rosario’s points came in the first half, in which the Gators held the Seminoles to just 15 points.
During his 26 minutes, Rosario tallied two assists, two steals, one rebound and committed two turnovers.
Rosario was a bright spot in a game where Florida struggled behind the arc. The Gators shot 30.4 percent (7 of 23) on three-pointers, but Rosario made two of his four three-point attempts.
“He can be streaky sometimes, but he just had one of those games where he shot the ball well,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought he gave us a very good lift in the first half offensively. … Mike was probably the only guy from the perimeter that bailed us out some.”
Seven of the 6-foot-3 guard’s points came during a Gators run that put the game out of reach for FSU. With the Gators up 16-9, Rosario knocked down his first three with 10:15 remaining in the first half. About two minutes later, he scored jumpers on consecutive possessions to increase Florida’s lead to 23-12.
Rosario’s 14-point outing Wednesday was his fifth game in double-figure scoring. Before facing Florida State, he averaged 11 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 turnovers per contest.
In Rosario’s first visit to the Donald L. Tucker on Nov. 28, 2010, he sat out because of NCAA transfer rules.
Two years later, he was finally a factor for Florida against its archrival.
“That’s the Rosario I’m used to seeing,” senior guard Kenny Boynton said. “He was executing great. He made shots. He finished plays. He did a great job tonight.”
Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario reacts to Florida's 72-47 win against Florida State in Tallahassee on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Rosario scored a game-high 22 points during UF's 83-52 victory against Auburn on Saturday.
