No. 5 Florida routs Florida State 72-47

• Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario scored 14 to lead Florida
• Florida scored 30 points off of 21 Seminole turnovers
• No. 1 recruit Andrew Wiggins was in attendance as his parents were honored by FSU

Florida State knew it could ill-afford a slow start against sixth-ranked Florida on Wednesday. Unfortunately for the Seminoles, their plan went agonizingly awry.

FSU's start went from slow to sloppy to done — all by the conclusion of the first half.

The Seminoles tumbled to their state rivals, 72-47, before a season-high crowd of 10,593 at the Civic Center.

This one left a noticeable bruise on FSU.

The 25-point margin was the program's worst defeat to UF since a 96-61 setback in Gainesville in 1999. It was also the Seminoles' lowest point total at the Civic Center since a 69-48 defeat against North Carolina in 2002.

FSU never gave itself a chance.

The Seminoles trailed 12-2 five minutes into the game. They pulled within three points (12-9) after a brief surge, but they failed to play with the consistency – and, much of the time, the confidence – to keep pace.

FSU trailed by 20 points (35-15) at halftime and by as many as 37 (62-35) in the game. And that was with nine minutes remaining to suffer its most lopsided defeat in the series at home.

"Tonight, I thought we ran into one of the better teams we've played since I've been at Florida State, and that includes the ACC teams that have come through here," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, in his 11th season with the Seminoles.

"It seemed like they capitalized on every mistake we made early in the game. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot."

FSU (4-4) dropped its fourth consecutive game to undefeated UF (7-0) and suffered a third straight defeat — all at home — in its current tailspin.

The Seminoles' struggles against the Gators, who entered second nationally in scoring defense (48.5 points per game), were glaring.

FSU simply couldn't handle UF's ball-hawking mix between full-court pressure and man and zone defenses.

The Seminoles' 22 turnovers, many off errant passes, led to 32 Florida points.

UF also outscored FSU 34-14 in the paint, 12-0 off the fastbreak and held a 34-26 advantage on the glass.

It was ugly, even for the Seminoles.

"It kind of all got out of whack," FSU forward Okaro White said. "You can't get into an offensive rhythm when you are turning the ball over."

UF coach Billy Donovan credited his team's ability to disrupt the Seminoles' offensive rhythm, praising his team's defense.

The Gators have held five opponents to fewer than 50 points this season.

UF guard Mike Rosario, one of four players in double digits with 14 points, said a strong start was important.

"From the start I thought we did a great job as a whole team," Rosario said. "Just being locked in and being on edge. I thought we took care of business in the first four minutes, and that really determined the game."

Senior Michael Snaer led FSU with 10 points, all in the second half. The Seminoles shot 34.8 percent (16 of 46), 25 percent in the first half.

The crowd included Andrew Wiggins, the Huntington Prep senior who is considered the nation's top player. Both of Wiggins' parents – former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and former Canadian Olympic track star Marita Payne-Wiggins — attended FSU.

One of the game's biggest cheers erupted at halftime, which featured a video salute to Mitchell Wiggins and his wife. Fans followed the video clip with the Seminole Chop and cheers of "We want Wiggins."

Andrew Wiggins stood and saluted the crowd.

Henry also writes for the Tallahassee Democrat.