GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As Billy Donovan walked onto the court, referee Travis Correll extended his arms to signal a full timeout and whacked the Florida coach upside the head.

It was pretty much the first thing that has gone wrong for the 11th-ranked Gators this season.

Taurean Green scored 18 points, Corey Brewer added 17 and Florida beat Alabama State 87-60 on Monday night to give the program its best start in more two decades.

Unranked in the preseason poll, the Gators are 6-0 for the first time in Donovan's 10 years. Florida last started 6-0 in 1984-85.

"What does it mean? Not a whole lot to me," Donovan said. "What it really shows is the lack of basketball tradition here at the University of Florida. There's only two teams that started 7-0. That's mind-boggling.

"It's nice to do something that hasn't been done in 21 years. But it does not move you any closer to the goals you have."

After losing their top three scorers and having four sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup, the Gators have been one of the biggest surprises in the country.

"We're excited to start 6-0, but we're not working to start 6-0," said forward Al Horford, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. "We want to keep it going all year."

In the only other game involving a ranked team, No. 9 Memphis beat Lamar 108-83.

Alabama State (1-5) hardly proved to be much of an obstacle for Florida, which was bigger, faster and deeper than the Hornets. The Gators shot 65 percent from the field, had a 34-24 rebounding advantage, blocked nine shots and had six steals.

Lee Humphrey scored 13 points for Florida, while Brewer added seven rebounds and five assists.

The Gators opened with a 10-0 run, maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the first half and then pulled away.

"I don't think we were intimidated," Alabama State coach Lewis Jackson said.

Green was 10-of-10 from the free-throw line and has made 24 in a row. He was 14-of-14 in the second half Friday night against Florida State.

"That's pretty impressive," Donovan said. "He has a good understanding of how to get fouled."

LaMarquis Blake led the Hornets with 16 points, and Cedric Mitchell added 13. Leading scorer Akeim Claborn, who entered averaging 16.2 points, finished with six after spending much of the night in foul trouble.

About the only damage done to Florida came when the ref accidentally smacked Donovan early in the second half.

"I was really hoping no one saw that," Donovan said. "Thank God he didn't have any rings on. Wrong place at the wrong time. He got me pretty good, too."

The Gators started 5-0 three other times under Donovan: 1997, 1998 and 2003. But in those years, Florida lost its sixth game to Texas, Duke and Maryland.

"There's something special about this team," said Green, who was celebrating his 20th birthday. "We're all together, all on the same page. We click on the court and off the court. We have good chemistry. Hopefully, we can keep it together."

Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 23 points, and Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams each added 21 as the Tigers (4-1) overcame a sluggish start and the absence of point guard Darius Washington.Memphis shot 48.8 percent overall and outrebounded Lamar 65-32 led by Joey Dorsey's 13.Alan Daniels had 41 points for the visiting Cardinals (1-3), who led by 10 points midway through the first half.Washington, the team's leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, didn't play because of a deep thigh bruise suffered in the second-round win over Alabama in the NIT Season Tip-Off. He isn't expected to play Wednesday when the Tigers host Jackson State.