GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Eastern Kentucky University ran into a buzzsaw Wednesday night as the University of Florida Gators doubled the score on EKU, defeating the Colonels, 98-49, in Florida's O'Connell Center.

Florida held a commanding 51-19 lead at the break, nailing 54.3 percent of its shots to just 27.3 for the Colonels.

The second half mirrored Eastern's problems hitting the basket as the Colonels could manage to find the range on just 36.4 percent as UF continued its torrid shooting with a 57.1 second half percentage.

"This was our worst nightmare tonight," said EKU head coach Travis Ford. "They brought their "A" game and we couldn't buy a basket.

"When we fell behind, I thought we rushed our offense. We tried to slow them down, but couldn't do it. We just couldn't get in a rhythm out there. We didn't get much production from anybody.

"Our shooting percentages were the worst of the year (31.8 FG, 13.3 3-pt and 45.5 FT). They are definitely a Top 10 team if they hit like that. They feed off their offense."

Junior guard Matt Witt led Eastern with 10 points, while senior forward Michael Haney and freshman forward Ryan Wiersma led the Colonels in rebounding with six each.

Florida outboarded the Colonels, 51-35, and moved to 7-2 on the season. Junior guard Matt Walsh led four twin-figure scorers for UF with 23 points. Freshman center Al Horford had a double-double for Florida with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Up next for EKU, now 8-2 on the year, is the University of Louisville Thursday, Dec. 30.

"It doesn't get any easier," said Ford, 'but I did this on purpose, playing two big opponents back-to-back, to get ready for conference play. Hopefully, there is something positive that we can take with us from this game to Louisville."

Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST at Louisville's Freedom Hall next Thursday.