Florida 68, William and Mary 45: Gators ease into new era with big win

A fantastic first half gave Florida its first win of the 2014-15 season, a 68-45 triumph over William and Mary, in relatively relaxed fashion on Friday night.

After an even start, Florida embarked on a 29-8 run that covered almost the entirety of the first half and staked itself to a 42-18 halftime lead. And with Kasey Hill and the rest of Florida's perimeter defenders smothering the Tribe's Marcus Thornton, who finished with just 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, there was no chance of a comeback.

Dorian Finney-Smith tied William and Mary's Omar Prewitt for the lead among all scorers with 15 points despite leaving the game briefly in the first half with what was termed a "left hand sprain" by Florida, and Michael Frazier finished with 14 points after pouring in 12 in the first half.

It gets harder from here, with Miami coming to town on Monday, but this was a night that ended with fans screaming for Devin Robinson blocks and chanting walk-on Zach Hodskins's name, hoping the one-handed wonder could sink a three or two in his couple of minutes of play.

It's okay for things to be easy early on.