Erving Walker led the way with 18 points and six assists as No. 2 seed Florida crushed No. 15 seed UC Santa Barbara, 79-51, in the second round of the NCAA tournament Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

Chandler Parsons narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Kenny Boynton added 13 points for the Gators (27-7), who will take on UCLA in the third round of the Southeast Region on Saturday.

Florida put it away early, shooting 58 percent in the opening half to take a 43-19 lead into the break. Boynton led the barrage with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting while the Gators’ defense confounded the Gauchos, limiting them to 6 of 22 from the floor.

Florida pushed its lead to 63-29 on Boynton’s dunk with 9:43 left in the game before pulling the starters and cruising to the finish.

Orlando Johnson scored 21 points for UC Santa Barbara (18-14), which lost to Ohio State in the first round last year.