GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida brought the pain on Saturday, Omar Payne to be more exact.

Payne had a career-afternoon, as Gators demolished No. 4 Auburn 69-47. The first-year Gator netted his first career double-double with career-highs 19 points and 11 rebounds.

"His intensity was great, "said Kerry Blackshear. "His ability to learn throughout the season has been great. I think he is going to be an elite player. His energy on both sides of the floor allowed us to get out when we had the opportunity to get big stops and finish at the rim."

Payne was excellent on the offensive side of the ball, taking advantage of the fact that the Tigers were double-teaming senior Kerry Blackshear, and then going 9-for-9 from the floor and cleaning up several possessions with tip-ins and dunks.

"My confidence has improved a lot and it just started at practice," said Payne. "The coaches told me what I had to do and I see when I work hard at practice it proves it in the game."

"He hasn't had a bad practice in a long time and thats pretty rare for a freshman," said Mike White after the win. "He just brings it. He works and he is always asking questions. He has a serious approach and obviously is very talented. His toughness, more mental than physical, has improved a lot, and he stepped up big."

But Payne was not alone underneath the glass.

Although Blackshear was 4-for-14, the senior was a menace defensively and tallied a team high 16 rebounds. The Gators won the board battle by out-rebounding the best rebounding team in the conference, 44-29.

"I think we have to do that every game," said Payne. "When we do that we are the best team. We saw what happened when we don't come out with that energy in the Missouri game."

One week after the Gators had its worst defensive performance against the Mizzou, Florida produced its best. UF held Auburn to just 20.7% shooting in the first half, 25.5% in the game. It was the 2nd-fewest points ever allowed by Florida against an AP top-five opponent.

Florida still has to work on consistency though.

UF did allow the Tigers to come back and tie the game a few times in the first half, after turning over the ball 12 times in the first frame. However, White and company cleaned things up in the second half - having their first turnover 11 minutes into the second half and only three total in that second period.

"I thought Andrew [Nembhard] set the tone in the second half, just getting down and making a good decision," said White. "I thought that settled us in...I think our guys just slowed down a little bit. We talked a lot about it at halftime.

"I thought Auburn did a great job of rattling us and speeding us up a bit," added White. "They are elite with the press. I think our guys made more sound decisions."

"It was just about us being confident in our game offensively," said Noah Locke, who had four three-pointers on Saturday, continuing his 14-game streak with multiple triples. "We were playing really stagnant. We weren't trying to be open, we are just stagnant out there. Once we came into our own and came out in the second half, we just showed them what we can do."

In addition to Payne, Blackshear and Locke finished with double figures with 11 points each. Blackshear also secured his eighth double-double with his 16 rebounds.

The win over Auburn was Florida's first win over an AP Top 5 team since beating No. 2 Michigan State on Nov. 27, 2009 in Atlantic City. It was also the team's first win over a Quad 1 team this season - which will certainly boost the Gators' NCAA resume.

However, White and his side do not have time to think over this success. The Gators will hit the road on Tuesday to face LSU before facing another top-five team in one week when Baylor comes to town.

"Having the ability to get big wins at home is very important," said Blackshear. "Now we have the opportunity to get a talented team on the road and come back to play another top-five team at home. We are excited for this stretch for us. We are going to learn from our games from the past and get some wins."

"It's definitely is going to help us out," said Locke. "We have some momentum and we just have to stay locked in and come in ready to play. It all starts on defense and we have to be ready to locked them up. "

We will have more from Florida's win over Auburn coming up.