Gainesville, FL -- (Sports Network) - Nick Calathes scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists to lead 18th-ranked Florida over Southern Utah, 64-50, at the O'Connell Center.

Dan Werner added nine points for the Gators (3-0), who won despite making just 1-of-16 three-point attempts. Alex Tyus picked up eight points and six boards for Florida.

Davis Baker led all scorers with 23 points to go with eight rebounds for the Thunderbirds (1-1). Eules Thompson contributed six points in the loss.

Southern Utah took an early 4-2 lead on a jumper from Thompson, but Florida quickly assumed control with a 13-2 run, ending on Kenny Kadji's dunk with 11:20 left in the half.

The Gators' lead reached 33-17 with 3:51 to play on a Kadji jumper, but eight straight points including back-to-back threes from John Clifford and Mike Josserand shrunk Florida's lead to 33-25 at the break.

Four straight points from Allan Chaney boosted Florida's lead to 44-27 with almost 5 1/2 minutes played in the second half. The outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way as Southern Utah couldn't reduce its deficit lower than 10 points.

Game Notes

It was the first-ever meeting between schools...Florida shot 46 percent (23- for-50) from the floor, while Southern Utah connected on only 42.9 percent (21-of-49).