Before Georgia’s basketball battle with Florida, the national anthem was sung with a few of the words missing.

That would be a bad omen for the Bulldogs, as they seemed to be missing the ability to stay with the No. 1 team in the country.

Corey Brewer led the Gators (22-2, 9-0 SEC) with 18 points as they defeated Georgia 71-61 in front of a sellout crowd Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

It was the Bulldogs’ third straight loss.

In the first half, Georgia (13-9, 5-5) kept the game close and made Florida play at its level for the first 12 minutes of the game.

But the Gators took over with a 21-9 run to end the half and go into the intermission up 36-30.

That lead would only grow in the second half, getting as high as 16 points.

“We had defensive breakdowns and gave them a lot of open looks,” Georgia guard Levi Stukes said. “Then we tried to rush our offense and got off our game plan.”

The athletic Gator trio of Brewer, Al Horford and Joakim Noah combined for 45 points and 16 rebounds.

“They’re a special team,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “They’ve got tremendous talent and are as together and cohesive as a team could be.”

Mike Mercer led the Bulldogs with 15 points, his best outing since his 15-point performance Jan. 20 against Alabama.

Georgia’s shooting woes continued, as the Bulldogs shot 34 percent from the field and 18 percent from 3-point range.

The Bulldogs have made only 24 percent of their 3-pointers in the last three games.

When asked if he had ever coached against a better team than Florida, Felton said, “No. Absolutely not.”

With a few minutes remaining in the game, chants of “Just like football!” rained down from Gator fans in their nosebleed seats.