Bethune Cookman Beth.-Cook./Florida Florida Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Touted by coach Billy Donovan as the most overlooked player in the nation, Wright scored a career-high 26 points Tuesday night to lift No. 7 Florida to a 106-64 victory over outmanned Bethune-Cookman.

"You look at TV and see the guys who get the publicity," Wright said. "I might not be as athletic as all of them, I may not have all the fancy dunks. But skills-wise, I think I'm right up there with them."

Donovan has believed that for a long time, and some NBA scouts are starting to believe, too.

It's not all because of Wright's scoring ability.

Instead, it's the little things -- like the eight rebounds, the three steals and the stifling defense he played at the front of the Florida press -- that impress. Now, the points are piling up, too, and the senior is earning his share of the spotlight.

"In the three years he's been here, he's been as reliable a guy as we've had in the program," Donovan said. "I can't remember the last time when I said `Brent Wright didn't play hard, Brent Wright didn't come ready."'

Freshman Orien Greene had nine assists and Matt Bonner hit all five of his 3-pointers en route to 21 points for the Gators, who reached the 7-1 mark for the third consecutive season.

Derricus Lockwood scored 22 points to lead Bethune-Cookman (4-5), which wasn't near the team that came to Gainesville last season and played the Gators tough for the first 35 minutes of a 93-77 loss.

"You're going to have your cupcake days," Wildcats coach Horace Broadnax said. "Sometimes, you've got to be in the position of the cupcake, then someday, you'll be in the position of a dominator."

Showing the strength of a big man and the shooting touch of a guard, the 6-foot-8 Wright scored 19 points in the first half, leaving him just one point shy of matching his career high.

He broke the mark with a layup seven minutes into the second half, then followed with a three-point play on a nice pass from LaDarius Halton. That gave the Gators a 77-36 lead.

Florida looked most impressive during a 15-1 run early in the first half, in which guard Justin Hamilton dished out four assists to Wright, the last for a wide-open 3-pointer that put the Gators ahead 28-7.

"I enjoy playing games like this, so our guys will get the idea of what it's like to play under stress and pressure, then going back and saying, 'I've just got to work a little harder,"' Broadnax said.

Hamilton, considered a defensive specialist and a great ballhandler, had eight assists, just one short of the career high he set Dec. 10 in a 125-50 victory over Florida A&M. Hamilton also had six points and four steals.

Udonis Haslem scored 20 points. Haslem, Bonner and Wright outscored the Wildcats all by themselves.

"Brent, Udonis and Matt are productive when they get shots," Donovan said. "The ball needs to go inside. It went inside and they didn't have a lot of answers."

It helped the Gators win their third home game this season by 40 points or more. Do they get anything out of these early season blowouts?

"If I could play 12 cupcakes a year, I'd do it," said Broadnax, who won a national title as a player at Georgetown in 1984. "Because, how do you learn to win? You learn by winning, not by losing."

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