OXFORD, Miss. – Chris Beard had just wrapped his post-game presser after getting waxed on his home court by 19 points. As the Ole Miss coach exited the media room, a dozen or so reporters immediately rose from their seats and followed him out the door, leaving just three in the audience when his Florida counterpart, Todd Golden, slid behind the microphone. 
 
“You chased ’em all away, Coach,” a local beat guy observed.
 
“Like we did their fans,” Golden shot back. 
 
The Pavilion at Ole Miss was maybe half-full for Saturday’s 11 a.m. tip-off, but the crowd was far more diluted by the time the 12^th-ranked Gators were well on their way to a 94-75 road savaging of the Rebels that marked a seventh consecutive win (and 11^th in past 12 games) for the Southeastern Conference front-runners, as well as six straight on the road. 
 
Five different UF players scored in double-figures, led by forward Alex Condon’s 24 points and six assists, followed by 20 points from Thomas Haugh, who fell one point shy of the 1,000^th of his career and one rebound shy of a double-double. Guard Xaivian Lee, however, posted his first double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 10 assists. Backup guard Urban Klavzar bombed four 3s on five attempts on his way to 15 points, with point guard Boogie Fland tallying 11 points with a trio of long ones. 

The Gators (21-6, 12-2) shot 57.1% for the game, posting 26 assists on their 32 field goals. They finished at 61.% from the 2-point area and, thanks to their SEC-high 11 makes from deep on 22 attempts, 50% from the arc. UF also beat up Ole Miss (11-15, 3-11), loser of nine in a row, in the rebounding category, 39-24, and scored 51 points in the second half. 
 
“The ceiling [of this team] is crazy if we shoot 50%, especially having those guys under the rim,” said Klavzar, who upped his 3-point marksmanship in league play to 44.3%. “They do such an exceptional job every game, but there are going to be times where we have to make some huge shots from 3, so this helps a lot. I mean, when we shoot 50% — even 40 or 35, even 33 – we can be unstoppable. But 50? Oh man.”
 
Oh man, is right. Just ask Beard, whose team became the Gators’ fourth straight opponent to be beaten by at least 19 points on its home floor. 
 
“Yeah, they’re as good as advertised,” Beard said. 

The Gators did it all during a morning-turned-afternoon when human double-double Rueben Chinyelu, the league’s rebound leader, was limited to just three points and six boards. And they did with a season-high 19 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Rebels. 
 
“We aim for under 12 every game, so it was a bit uncharacteristic,” Condon said of the giveaways. “Ole Miss has a gambling sort of defense and we played into that too much.”
 
Not enough for it to matter, though.
 
UF used a 14-2 run midway through the first-half to turn a two-point deficit into a double-digit cushion that basically stayed for the remainder of the game. The Gators’ lead was 11 at halftime, with the Rebels, behind forward Malik Dia’s 24 points and six boards, sticking around and even scoring the first two field goals out of the locker to cut the Florida margin to seven. 
 
Three minutes later, after 3s from Fland, Klavzar and Lee, the UF lead was 15 and eventually swelled to 22 before the Gators emptied their bench inside four minutes to play. 
 
Florida went 6-for-10 from deep in the second half, with Fland going 3-for-4. Over the previous 10½ games he was 2-for-28. Talk about taking the lid off. 

Fact: UF ranks 342^nd in the nation (last among the 79 power conference teams) in 3-point percentage on the season at 30.1% 
 
Fact: The Gators are at 34.3% from deep over the last 10 games.  
 
“If we get that figured out, everyone knows how scary we can be,” Fland said. 
 
Especially, their coach. 
 
“We try to play a certain style that gives us a high floor and allows us to play well through spans of not shooting the ball well. When we do make shots like [today], we have the ability to run away from teams,” said Golden, who wasn’t pleased with the turnovers, especially during the first half. “We were pretty efficient when we took care of the basketball, and obviously the 3-point shooting allowed us to maintain and grow a lead, even when we weren’t playing our best in terms of ball control.” 
 
The result was yet another rout in another team’s emptying arena (and press conference) and an understanding within the locker room (and across the nation) that Florida, the reigning national champion, just might be starting to peak. 
 
March is eight days away. 
 
“Sky’s the limit,” Condon said. “We know we rebound and finish well inside. Now, if we start making 3s, we can beat any team in the country.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.