GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida ran into a problem that good teams can encounter when they schedule the so-called cupcakes.

Sometimes they don't roll over so easily.

Bethune-Cookman challenged the Gators (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) deep into the second half Saturday before Mike Miller took over, scoring 12 of his 14 points late in the game for a 93-77 victory.

"I think we felt we could go out and play hard and things would just fall into place," said Florida coach Billy Donovan. "Hopefully, this game will make our team grow up and understand that just because you have talent and just because you play together, there's more to it as far as scouting and understanding your opponent."

Apparently, the Gators (6-1) didn't understand that a talented Bethune-Cookman team could play.

Led by the ballhandling of point guard Tyris Livas and the shooting of guard Freddie Cole, the Wildcats (2-4) had little trouble breaking the Florida press through most of the game.

Often, they would work through the trap and throw a quick pass into the corner for an open 3-pointer. Other times, they would break the press and Livas would patiently set up the offense.

The strategy worked. Bethune-Cookman shot 46 percent for the game -- 52 percent in the first half -- and when Cole followed a 15-footer with a pair of 3-pointers, the Wildcats had a seven-point lead six minutes into the second half.

But while Bethune-Cookman might have had the talent to stay with Florida, it did not have the poise.

After taking their seven-point lead, the Wildcats drew a pair of technical fouls and an intentional foul, which sparked the Gators to runs of 19-2 and 11-2 that decided the game.

"It was more mental," said Bethune-Cookman forward Valder Ned. "We work out just as much as them, we practice just as much as them. We felt like we played pretty well. But I guess we didn't come with our minds ready to play."

The first technical came when junior-college transfer T.T. Toliver threw the ball at Kenyan Weaks in frustration with 12:54 remaining. Instead of getting the ball and trying to build on a four-point lead, Bethune-Cookman watched Weaks make two free throws and Miller hit a layup to tie the game.

Later, while trailing 76-68, Brian Cox got called for an intentional foul, a key point in Florida's game-clinching 11-2 run. Coach Horace Broadnax, a former assistant at Florida, got the final technical with 5:19 remaining.

Broadnax criticized the officials, who called 32 fouls on Bethune-Cookman to 20 on Florida.

"We got beat tonight, but come on, look at the discrepancy in the stats," Broadnax said.

Donovan disagreed.

"I probably wouldn't have been upset sitting on his end of the bench with some of the calls he had," Donovan said. "I've been in a few hostile places, like Duke and those places, and I wish I would've gotten as good a whistle as Bethune got today."

Florida finished with a 46-23 rebounding edge that led Broadnax, who spent one season at Florida as an assistant to Lon Kruger, to concede his team has some work to do before it wins big games like these.

"We couldn't box them out," Broadnax said. "We have to go back to the weight room. We had been getting up at 6 a.m. to get it done, now we'll have to start getting up at 5:30 to get it done."

The loss spoiled a tremendous floor game from Livas, who finished with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting and 11 assists. Cole had 20 points and Ned had 12.

Brent Wright played his best game of the season for the Gators, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Weaks led the Gators with 18 points, and Udonis Haslem had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

But more than anyone, Miller sparked the comeback. After being held to two points in the first half, he took control of the offense and helped the Gators turn their deficit into a comfortable victory.

Donovan said he has walked a fine line this season between getting Miller to play unselfishly and getting him to take more responsibility on offense.

"I'll just do what he asks," Miller said. "If he wants me to be more aggressive, I'll do it. The big thing I have to realize is I don't have to shoot all the time. He wants me to create. I just have to sit down and understand what he really, really wants from me and go from there."