GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Keyontae Johnson and Andrew Nembhard took over in the second half, netting 28 of Florida's 40 second half points, to help the Gators secure the 73-59 win over Arkansas.

"We need leadership from those sophomores for sure," said Gators head coach Mike White after the win. "If you look from in a consistency standpoint, the last three or four games you definitely see a jump in Keyontae - with his level of play offensively and defensively."

Johnson scored a career-high 24 points in the win, 16 of those coming in the second half. He finished the night with his sixth double-double of the season by grabbing ten rebounds - his third double-double in four games.

The sophomore also went 15-of-17 from the charity stripes.

"Keyontae has learned to take his spots int he half court," said White. "He is our best driver hence the 17 free throws...You got to treat him like a real player, a guy that can score all three levels now."

Johnson"gives us a lot of energy," said guard Noah Locke. "It definitely helps us out when he plays well. When he plays like that we usually win."

"When he plays with energy and plays really hard, he is second to none in our league," added Nembhard. "He really crashes the boards. He plays downhill aggressive."

"Confidence, tempo more than anything," said White about what has changed with Johnson. "The game has slowed down for him. The other thing he is playing more minutes because he is defending and rebounding well...ultimately his skill level has improved."

Meanwhile, Nembhard also stepped up in that second frame, netting 12 of his 17 points in the half.

"Andrew has shown spurts of it," said White. "We got to get it all the time. We got to get that level of play all the time. Thats a challenge for him. He is a super laid back guy. Great, great kid but when he plays like a pit bull, he is very, very good. He did that down the stretch tonight."

Despite the final score, this win was not easy. The Gators saw a 19-point lead disappear after Arkansas finished the first period on a 16-3 run.

"We had a poor, poor shot that was basically a pick-six," recounted White. "We missed three or four layups, point blank layups, and I want to say a couple of those possessions led to Mason Jones down hill.. he is fantastic in the open floor."

With Florida's big men in trouble, including Kerry Blackshear who only played 12 minutes in the win, the Razorbacks took advantage and forced 15 turnovers, scoring 12 points from those opportunities.

Then the technical happened.

Arkansas' Adrio Bailey infringed on the Florida huddle and both Locke and Johnson appeared to shove him away - Locke was called for a technical.

"I was just trying to close the huddle," said a smiling Locke. "It is what it is. It happened. Slightly energized us..It gave us energy."

The Gators seemed to turn things up after that foul .

They showed a mental toughness that has not shown itself many times this season.

"I feel like mentally in the past when we were down at times, like a few games, we wouldn't get back to playing aggressive and mentally being there," said Locke. "I feel like we are getting better at that and being connected."

"I think we responded well to adversity," said Nembhard. "Locked in and played really good defense the second part of the second half to get that win."

The Gators shot 50% from the field and 38% from three , while holding the Razorbacks to just 40% from the field and 18.8% from three-point range.

This latest win was Florida's fifth win in the last six games. The Gators will now hit the road to face Kentucky on Saturday.

"Take off tomorrow and get some rest," said Locke. "Come back with some fresh legs and just be ready to play."