Four Reasons for Florida to Stay Hopeful After Arizona Loss
All eyes were on the reigning national champions Monday night in their first game of the season against the Arizona Wildcats at the Hall of Fame series in Las Vegas. The Gators were outperformed by the No. 13 Wildcats 87-93 with freshman forward Koa Peat and senior point guard Jaden Bradley, who scored a combined total of 57 points.
Even though Florida failed to bring home a win, here are four things that Florida basketball fans should be hopeful about in the near future:
Thomas Haugh is back
Junior forward Thomas Haugh played 38 minutes and scored a team-high 27 points against the Wildcats. He was by far the most complete player.
“The great thing about T is that he’s a winning player,” coach Todd Golden said. “You can put him anywhere on the floor and he’s going to impact the game positively.”
Last season, he proved his ability to compete at the highest level in college basketball and helped the program win its third national championship. Haugh was known as the team’s sixth man, but this year he seems to be the main man.
Urban Klavzar proved himself on opening night
The 6-foot-1 junior played for 18 minutes and scored a total of eight points for the team on Monday night. Klavzar started strong in the first half by hitting a three-pointer that gave the Gators a 24-12 lead, but he was scoreless in the second half.
Klavzar totaled 83 points with 17 three-point field goals in 26 appearances as a sophomore last season as a valuable asset to the team’s success last year. This season will be no different. Fans may be seeing a lot more of the Slovenia native on the court as the Gators figure out the rest of the season.
Micah Handlogten is a challenge
Handlogten played a great defensive game at center against the Wildcats. The senior scored 11 points in the 23 minutes and recorded a team-high 12 rebounds. While the Gators lacked defensively, Handlogten put pressure on Arizona’s offense.
At 7-foot-1, Handlogten is a force to be reckoned with on Florida’s defense, proving that he’s an elite defender who protects the rim. In 2023-24, he ranked No. 43 in defensive rebounding percentage and No. 37 in block percentage, according to 247Sports.
“To Micah Handlogten’s credit, I thought he did a great job in the second half of bothering Peat,” Golden said. “That size and length made it an issue for him.”
The good news: It’s the first game of the season
Florida basketball fans have no reason to worry following the loss to Arizona. The Gators are in a good position to be one of the top teams in the country. Losing to the No. 13 team in the country doesn’t mean it’s over.
“I’m super disappointed we lost, but the reason why we played this game was to give ourselves a really good opportunity to get a quality win,” Golden said. “I don’t think anybody is going to hold this loss over our head, moving forward, and I do think it gives us a great opportunity to teach our team before we play North Florida on Thursday.”
The Gators have a total of 30 games left to play during the regular season and travel back home to face North Florida Thursday in the O’Dome. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
