GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Coming off a short turnaround following the team's first loss to Purdue on Sunday, Florida came out of the locker room flat and lifeless in a home contest Wednesday against Vermont.

The Gators struggled in the first half, building just a five-point lead before players snapped out of their funk and went on to cruise to an 86-62 win in an impressive shooting display in a 52-point second half.

"We were just locked in," point guard Kasey Hill said. "First half, everybody seemed like they were in their feelings, worried about each other. We weren't playing together. We had no energy, just being lackadaisical."

After a poor shooting night against Purdue, players were too focused on their shooting percentages. It resulted in a lot of open looks being passed up in the first half, with many possessions ending up with tougher, contested shots.

White sent the message that players needed to stop worrying about it and just let the shots fly.

And they certainly answered the call.

Freshman Devin Robinson helped spark the charge with a 12-point second half, and veteran Dorian Finney-Smith stuffed the stat sheet as he helped the Gators (4-1) operate in more halfcourt offense than they'd shown in the past.

The run-and-gun style, which has been a staple of new coach Mike White's system, took a back seat to a more controlled approach in the second half.

"We were kind of in the flow playing through Dorian in the halfcourt, especially coming off makes by Vermont where they would cut into the lead," White said. "I thought our guys did a really good job of executing better than our other games to this point in the halfcourt to get baskets."

Point guard Kasey Hill also turned in a much better performance to help Finney-Smith find open looks and good distribution angles, dishing out four assists without a turnover.

Finney-Smith answered with some well-timed baskets and finished with a season-high 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while turning it over just once and coming up with three steals.

"We turned down a lot of open shots (in the first half)," Finney-Smith said. "I think that (Purdue) game kind of made people hesitant, but coach challenged us to go out there and shoot the ball with confidence, and we made a lot of shots."

White said he'd continue to evaluate Florida's system and what the team does best, even if that means becoming a bit more of a halfcourt team. To date, the offense has been crisper when it flows through Finney-Smith and center John Egbunu in the halfcourt.

If it continues to work, the Gators may opt to press a little bit less and focus on running in certain situations rather than at all times.

Fouling and out-of-control defense have been problematic in stretches, and White thought Wednesday's outing against Vermont (2-4) was a significant improvement.

"I just thought that this was by far our most mature performance in terms of offensive and defensive decisions, especially in the second half with not fouling as much," he said.

Florida returns to action Friday against Florida Gulf Coast at 6:30 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

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