GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - There’s nothing Texas A&M will want to remember about this week.
Three days after losing by 28 points at South Carolina, the Aggies were humbled even more in a 69-36 loss at No. 3 Florida on Saturday.
Texas A&M (12-9, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) failed to have anyone reach double figures for the first time all season, maybe the most telling sign of how dominant the Gators were in Gainesville.
Jamal Jones and Kourtney Roberson scored seven points apiece for the Aggies, but it was far from enough in the team’s most lopsided game of the season. Texas A&M has lost five straight.
“Florida’s a great defensive team,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “We had our opportunities early to score, but not many. When we had our opportunities to make free throws and layups, we couldn’t score. But Florida had a lot to do with that.”
The Aggies missed 14 of their first 20 shots and weren’t much better on the other end of the floor, giving up open looks and way too many offensive rebounds.
The Gators finished with 17 offensive boards and were plus-30 in the rebounding column.
“We didn’t come ready to play mentally or physically,” Aggies guard Alex Caruso said. “The best way we can improve is to just put this game behind us and move on to the next game. There’s nothing we can do.”
Michael Frazier II scored 21 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 for the Gators.
Florida (19-2, 8-0) pushed its winning streak to 13 games and extended a school record for consecutive home wins to 27. It’s the third time in program history the Gators have started 19-2, with the last two (2005-06, 2006-07) ending in national championships.
The latest victory was another defensive gem, maybe the best of the season. It tied the fewest points Florida has allowed in SEC play since 1950, matching last year’s defensive effort against South Carolina.
Florida held the Aggies to 26 percent shooting and 20 percent from 3-point range.
“It’s scary because we can get a lot better defensively,” Frazier said. “It’s something we work on every day in practice and it’s something that we’re going to have to continue to keep grinding at because we can always get better.”
The Gators closed the first half with a 12-2 run that turned a seven-point lead into a double-digit advantage. They were up 34-17 at the break, and the lead would have been bigger had they not missed 11 of 12 shots from behind the arc.
Coach Billy Donovan’s team found its long-range rhythm early in the second half, with Frazier and Scottie Wilbekin each connecting from behind the arc, and Florida really started pulling away. Frazier’s second trey made it 53-24 with 12:27 to play.
The Gators coasted from there, improving to 9-1 in Saturday games that followed Thursday night tilts.
Donovan used just seven players for most of the game - guard DeVon Walker sat out with a hip pointer - and Florida was even thinner as leading scorer Casey Prather was hobbled by a sprained ankle. Prather missed practice Friday and wasn’t in the starting lineup. He finished with seven points, the first time he failed to reach double figures all season.
Texas A&M trailed by 38 with 4:47 remaining, when Donovan emptied his bench.
About the only thing worth watching down the stretch was whether Florida center Patric Young would notch his first double-double of the season.
Young finished with nine points and 14 rebounds on his 22nd birthday. He had several chances to reach double figures in scoring, but missed his final three free throws.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s kind of disappointing because I had an opportunity to get it on the free-throw line,” Young said.
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