Florida cruises past Stetson 86-39 in home opener

File-This Jan. 12, 2019, file photo shows Florida head coach Mike White directing his team against Tennessee during an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, in Gainesville, Fla. After winning a season-high four straight games, including road wins against Alabama and then-No. 13 LSU, the Gators (16-11, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) now face the last two teams in the Southeastern Conference standings. They are games Florida simply can't afford to lose. The two-game stretch begins Wednesday night at Vanderbilt (9-18, 0-14), where the Gators have dropped four in a row. No one on Florida's roster has experienced a victory at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tennessee. White has dealt with even more futility there. He's 0-9 at Vanderbilt, including 0-2 as a player at Mississippi (1995-99), 0-4 as an assistant coach with the Rebels (2004-11) and winless in three trips as Florida's head coach. (AP Photo/Matt Stamey, File) (Matt Stamey, 2019 Associated Press All Rights Reserved)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Keyontae Johnson scored 19 points, Scottie Lewis had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Florida beat Stetson 84-40 on Sunday in the Gators’ home opener.

Johnson's dunk started a 9-0 run to give Florida a 16-5 lead, and the Gators led by double figures for the rest of the game. Johnson finished the half with 12 points and Stetson scored 15. Florida scored the first 11 points of the second half for a 30-point lead, and the Gators led by as many as 47 points.

Recommended Videos



Noah Locke added 15 points and Tre Mann scored 10 for Florida (3-0). Locke was 5 of 6 from 3-point range as the Gators made 9 of 23 from behind the arc and 21 of 24 at the free-throw line. Mann scored a career-best 19 points in Florida’s opener against Army.

Johnson was coming off a 24-point, 12-rebound performance in a win over Boston College. He was 7 of 13 from the field against Stetson.

Rob Perry scored 13 points and Chase Johnston added 10 for Stetson (0-3), which was held to 10-of-51 shooting (19.6%) and turned it over 23 times.

Stetson's second-year coach Donnie Jones coached at Florida for 11 seasons on Billy Donovan’s staff from 1996-07, helping lead the Gators to back-to-back national championships.

___

For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25