GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Andrew Nembhard has turned a corner the last few games for Florida basketball.

"I think just gaining confidence," said Gators head coach Mike White. "You’ve seen it, we’re all seeing the same thing. You can kind of read it in his body language, and with his actions, as well. He’s playing with a high level of confidence. He’s really seeing the game well, making great decisions.

“I think it’s just how the team’s playing," said guard Andrew Nembhard. " I think we’re just moving the ball more, kind of looking for the best shots. I think it just ended up where I’ve had an opportunity to make the play. It’s kind of the way the team’s been playing, I have a lot of opportunity.”

"We’re playing through him a lot and he’s taking advantage of those opportunities," said White.

The Canadian is coming off his first career double-double after scoring 21 points and dishing out ten assists in Florida's 81-68 win over South Carolina. This performance followed his career-high night of 25 points in the come back win over Alabama.

"He was fantastic the other night," said White. "Obviously, we hope we continue to get that level of play from him, because he’s playing as well as most point guards out there right now.”

"I’ve got a lot of faith in Andrew," added White. "After a couple of games like this that's just what happens organically as a staff, teammates, and a head coach, you put more faith into a guy."

White will look to Nembhard to lead the Gators once again as they head back on the road on Saturday.

Florida (10-4, 2-0) will travel to Columbia to face off against Missouri (8-6, 0-2) in hopes to remain perfect in the SEC.

“Big. Every SEC game is a big challenge, especially road games," said White. "Missouri is one of the best defensive teams in the country; arguably the best defensive team — or playing as well defensively — as any team in our league. Execute really well, year in and year out. They run good stuff. Extremely tough and physical. We were very fortunate to beat them last year. We’re going to have play very well.”

Mark Smith is one to watch for the Tigers. He is undoubtedly one of Mizzou's overall best playmakers on the court. Smith is second on the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game but he has netted 34 threes this season. Although Missouri has struggled offensively this season, this is still a Cuonzo Martin team, which means they are hard-nosed defensive side.

“We watched a couple of film; they play defense similar to South Carolina," said Keyontae Johnson. "They play heavily deny and like, he said they foul a lot too so we have to celebrate the fouls and just like how we carry the game from South Carolina over to this one.”

Missouri is scoring 66.7 points per game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 30.5 percent from outside the arc. The Tigers have given up just 57.5 points per contest, 37.6 percent shooting and 27.6 percent from three-point range.

Although Nembhard looks like he has taken a turn offensively, White understands the dangers of relying on one player.

"He can’t go into Missouri and we can’t go to Missouri, and say, ’Hey you got to go and get us 25 again, and you got to get these many shots.’ We will see how we are going to be defended," said White. "You have to make good decisions, defend, and play with that level of confidence, and the ball will find the open guy."

However, there is no doubt that this team has shown more the last three games than they have early on in the season.

“I think we’ve just learned our pace that we want to play it," said Nembhard. "Picking our spots, when to play really fast, when to play kind of slower. I think we’ve done a better job at that, it’ll probably contribute to better offense for us.”

This team has struggled following success in earlier games. They have weathered a big comeback and two convincing wins, however, White is not calling it a turnaround.

This young team is slowly maturing but the process is not done.

"We’re definitely more mature than we were a couple months ago," said White. "They’ve played well and they’ve had people talking positively about them and we’ve gotten beat and had people talking negatively about us. We’ve had short practices and long practices. They’ve just been through the grind a little bit, and they’ll continue to grow in terms of maturity.

"We have a ways to go in terms of maturity, but we’ve taken some steps. We’re the youngest team in the league. Hopefully with the right attitude, we’ll continue to get better.”