Of all the teams that lost in the opening round of last season’s NCAA tournament, none was more disappointing than Florida.

On the short list of Final Four contenders going into the season, the Gators started 15-1 but stumbled down the stretch, losing in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament and finishing the season 22-9. Injuries and turmoil hampered Florida throughout the year.

The Gators are still banged up, and Billy Donovan’s program is still in upheaval after the recent decision by sophomore forward James White to transfer to Cincinnati. But last week’s win at Maryland could become a starting point for things to settle down in Gainesville, Fla.

More than just ending the nation’s longest nonconference home winning streak, the victory helped Florida’s freshmen gain some confidence that might have been shaken with a road loss earlier to West Virginia, which came four days after the Gators knocked off Kansas University in the Preseason NIT

“I don’t think there’s anything such as finding a groove. You’ve got to learn from every game, especially losses,” said senior forward Matt Bonner.

Two of Florida’s freshmen have played a huge role in keeping the Gators competitive.

Matt Walsh, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged close to 21 points his first five games before suffering a bruised ankle. Anthony Roberson, a 6-1 guard, has been inconsistent shooting, but has had some big games and hit some big shots, none bigger than a late three to help beat Maryland.

“We’ve got a lot of more improving (to do), but I feel like we’re a national-championship team,” said Roberson.

The Gators, who are 7-2 and play at Miami on Saturday, are still not at full strength. Christian Drejer, a 6-9 freshman from Denmark, hasn’t played yet after an ankle sprain developed into a staph infection. Senior guard Brett Nelson, who missed the first three games because of a stress reaction in his right foot, has come back slowly, as has junior forward Bonell Coles from a chipped pelvis.

Bonner looks at his team being undermanned as a blessing in disguise.

“Those guys were thrown into the fire and they had to step up and perform right away, whereas you can usually let your freshmen sit back and get a feel for what needs to be done,” said Bonner. “That wasn’t the case this year. They now have experience at this level coming down the stretch against big-time programs and it showed (against Maryland).”

Donovan, now in his seventh year at Florida, said he hopes his young players don’t get too carried away with their experience last weekend in College Park or the team’s No. 13 ranking.

“You always deal with the next phase,” he said after the Maryland game. “To me, the next phase is: ‘Can they handle winning a game like this and come back as focused as they were to play today?’

“Sometimes guys embrace it, but sometimes they don’t realize the level of preparation and focus that you have to play this game.”