Florida had struggled shooting the basketball in recent games heading into Tuesday night’s matchup against Jacksonville.
But the Gators turned their shooting woes around against the Dolphins, shooting 52.5 percent from the field en route to a 89-65 win.
In their previous three games the Gators shot a combined 38.3 percent from the field, including 23.2 percent from beyond the arc and 53.3 percent from the free throw line.
Against Jacksonville (5-8), the Gators (8-3) were much improved in all three categories. Florida shot 28.6 percent from three and 65.5 percent from the charity stripe.
The Gators’ field goal shooting percentage was their second-best performance of the season, just behind a 53.6 percent effort against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 16.
“I’d just like to see us continue to improve,” coach Mike White said. “You’re chasing the best of all fronts, you’re chasing maxing out as a team.”
Freshman KeVaughn Allen led Florida with a career-high 15 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Four Gators scored in double figures and 11 of the 14 players who recorded minutes for Florida scored.
John Egbunu added 14 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 13, shooting 3-for-4 from three. Devin Robinson contributed 12 points and freshman Kevarrius Hayes had a career-high nine points to go along with a career-best seven rebounds.
“I was anxious to see how (Allen would) respond to being put back in the lineup, and he responded really well,” White said. “What got him going, I thought, was the fact that he was probably the best defensive player on the floor … was really proud of his effort and was happy to see it going for him a little bit.”
The Gators now have a week to prepare for their home matchup against Florida State (9-2) on Dec. 29. Florida will likely need to shoot as well as it did against Jacksonville, if not better, and tighten up defensively in order to keep up with the Seminoles.
“We’ll take those positives toward the next one,” White said, “but I know we’re gonna have to be much sharper defensively against the ‘Noles as they come to town.”
A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
Follow Alex Maminakis on Twitter @alexmaminakis
UF men's basketball coach Mike White smiles after a play during Florida's 104-54 win against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 16, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
With Billy Donovan coaching in the NBA, Mike White now looks to take over where Donovan left off. Here is Graham Hall's feature from before the season on UF's newest hoops coach (http://www.alligator.org/sports/basketball/article_32effa00-844a-11e5-9c22-8f5fc4a7d18e.html).
