American American/Florida Florida Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

"A lot of people call this place the toughest place to play in the SEC," Florida's Matt Bonner said. "I think that has a lot to do with it because our crowd gets into it. It gets us going."

Florida has opened the season 8-1 for the third straight season. The Gators have won five consecutive games, by an average margin of almost 38 points, since a 99-83 loss at No. 2 Michigan State on Dec. 6.

Brett Nelson and LaDarius Halton added 10 each for Florida.

"That gives us more confidence when we play at home," Nelson said. "Your home court, you're suppose to have an advantage, and that definitely helps you get a home court advantage."

Jernavis Draughn led American (5-5) with eight points.

"That was, obviously, the best team we have faced this year by far in every aspect," American coach Jeff Jones said. "We knew that we couldn't win a game in the 80s. The way it was, we couldn't win a game in the 40s."

The 33 points is the lowest given up by Florida since a 55-31 over Stetson on Jan. 20, 1948. American made just three field goals in the final 17:17 of the first half.

"We really won the game on the defensive end," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "The thing that was amazing to me is the fact they didn't score more than 20 points either half and that was impressive. From start to finish, we were as good as we've been all year long defensively."

The Gators used a 14-0 run, keyed by a 3-pointer from Teddy Dupay and a transition layup by Nelson, to take a 21-7 lead.

Florida took its first double-digit lead, at 18-7, on Justin Hamilton's layup with 12:20 left. After Dupay made another 3, American snapped an eight-minute scoring drought on Keith Gray's rebound slam that made it 21-9 with nine minutes remaining.

The Gators put together another 14-0 spurt later in the first half -- sparked by Nelson's 3-point play -- to make it 39-11 with 1:51 left.

Florida, which led 41-14 at halftime, recorded its second-best one-half defensive performance since the introduction of the shot clock in 1986.

American shot just 22 percent (5-for-23) and had 11 turnovers during the opening 20 minutes. The Eagles were outscored 26-4 in the lane and 17-0 on fast-break points.

American scored the first six points of the second half to draw to 41-20. Florida responded with an 8-0 run, which included a reverse layup by Halton, that made it 49-20 with 16 minutes to play.

"Those guys are athletic at every single position," American's Saliou-Binet Telly said. "It's not like one player or two players. When one guy goes out, and the next one comes in, it's the same level and intensity they bring into the game."

Halton's 3-pointer and a slam by Haslem keyed a 14-2 run that extended Florida's advantage to 63-24.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

American Clubhouse

Florida Clubhouse