COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Florida Coach Billy Donovan thought his team could be great defensively entering this season.

So far the Gators are proving him right.

Mike Rosario scored 19 points and Patric Young added 18 as No. 10 Florida cruised to a 68-47 victory over Texas A&M on Thursday night.

The Aggies led by one point midway through the first half before a big run by the Gators gave them a 35-18 halftime lead, and they didn’t let up in the second half.

It was a letdown for Texas A&M (12-4, 2-1), which was coming off an 83-71 victory at Kentucky on Saturday. Elston Turner scored a career-high 40 points in that victory but managed just four points Thursday on 1-of-10 shooting.

“We as a coaching staff have made some adjustments on things and we’ve done some different things that has helped,” Donovan said of improving the defense. “You can give them facts and show them where they need to get better and why.”

The Gators were proud of their defense on Turner, who entered the game averaging 17.1 points a game.

“We just didn’t give him a chance to do what he wanted to do,” Young said. “We made him really uncomfortable. Being able to limit a guy that just scored 40 points in his last game was huge.”

Texas A&M Coach Billy Kennedy knows it’s difficult for Turner with A&M not having another major scoring threat to take pressure off him.

“Their team defense was good,” Kennedy said. “He’s also had nights like that. When you have one primary scorer against a good defensive team ... they just physically wore him down and did a good job on him.”

It is the fifth consecutive victory for Florida (13-2, 3-0), which is in the midst of playing four of five games on the road.

Jordan Greene had 12 points for the Aggies, while J’Mychal Reese added 10.

Sports, Pages 22 on 01/18/2013