GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The William and Mary men's basketball team suffered a 68-45 setback at 2014 Final Four participant and No. 7-ranked Florida on Friday night to kick off the 2014-15 season. The Gators broke open the game with a 15-0 run in the latter stages of the first half, and the Tribe struggled from find its shooting touch.

Sophomore Omar Prewitt led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-15 from the field to go along with five rebounds. Senior guard Marcus Thornton chipped in 10 points and two assists, but couldn't find a rhythm while facing multiple Gator double teams. In his first collegiate action, freshman guard Oliver Tot led W&M with six rebounds.

Prewitt sparked the Tribe offense early with five points, including a conventional 3-point play entering the first media timeout. He scored on a drive to the rim, drew the contact and out of the timeout hit the free throw to draw W&M within 11-8 just over four minutes into the contest.

Florida, though, started the game scorching from the field. The Gators hit seven of their first eight shots, including each of its first four 3-point attempts. A Michael Frazier jumper at the 13:48 mark extend the Florida advantage to double-digits for the first time at 18-8.

A Thornton jumper at the 9:25 mark narrowed the margin to 21-14, but Florida answered with a big run to take a commanding lead. Frazier and Dorian Finney-Smith scored four points apiece on the 15-0 run, while Kasey Hill was 3-of-4 from the free throw line as his third freebie of the the extended the Gator lead to 36-14 with 3:09 left in the first half.

The Tribe shot just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 1-of-13 from 3-point range. On the other hand, Florida connected 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field in opening up a 42-18 halftime advantage.

W&M outscored Florida, 27-26, in the second half, but could get no closer than 18 in the final frame. A pair of free throws from Thornton, who was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe on the night, cut the deficit to 48-30. The Tribe defense limited Florida to 38.5 percent from the field in the second half, but shot just 36.7 percent offensively.

For the game, the Green and Gold finished 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the floor and was an uncharacteristic 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) from 3-point range. Last season, the Tribe ranked among the top 25 nationally in both offensive categories. Florida connected on 47.2 percent (25-of-53) on the night to go along with 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range and 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line.

The Tribe was short-handed on the evening, playing without starting forward Terry Tarpey and key reserve guard Michael Schlotman, who missed the contest due to minor injuries. Sophomore guard Daniel Dixon knocked down both W&M 3-pointers on the night and finished with six points in his first collegiate start. Junior forward Sean Sheldon added four points and five rebounds, while senior Tom Schalk finished with four points and three rebounds. 

Finney-Smith led Florida with 15 points and five rebounds. Frazier added 14 points and Jon Horford chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.

W&M returns to action with its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 18, inside Kaplan Arena. The Tribe hosts Howard for at 7 p.m. tip in the first of three games next week. The game will be streamed for FREE in high definition on Tribe Athletics TV. Fans can also listen in to the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM is the flagship station of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio feed can also be heard at TribeAthletics.com.