Key Matchups for No. 3 Florida’s Season Opener Against No. 13 Arizona
No. 3 Florida has not lost a regular-season game since Feb. 25 against Georgia in riding a 12-game winning streak and bringing home an SEC tournament and national championship in the process.
Tonight at 7, the Gators start their 2025-2026 men’s college basketball campaign against No. 13 Arizona in Las Vegas, marking a new season with fresh faces, coaches and schemes, but the same goal: win a national championship.
The winning streak will be in jeopardy, as Arizona made the Sweet 16 last season and added the second best recruiting class in the nation.
Both Florida and Arizona shared similar stories in the offseason. The Gators graduated their leading scorer and clutch playmaker Walter Clayton Jr., while Caleb Love, who led the Wildcat, also turned professional. The teams share a strong returning core with talented replacements to lost pivotal players.
Here are the biggest matchups to look out for Monday night (103.7-FM “The Gator”):
Dueling Backcourts
The biggest question mark to Florida’s new roster is the starting backcourt. The Gators lost their first four guards off the depth chart in Clayton, Alijah Martin, Will Richard and Denzel Aberdeen. Following on the success of those four is a tall task, assumed by Arkansas transfer Boogie Fland and Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee.
While the skill of both Fland and Lee have been established on the college basketball stage, their ability to mesh is up in the air.
“We’re confident together (Fland and Lee),” Fland said. “I feel like we can play off each other. It’s just an adjustment (playing two point guards). You’ve always got room to get more comfortable, but as far as right now I feel like we’ll be better than ever.”
The Wildcats are a different story. Their backcourt consists of two returning starters in Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell’Orso. Bradley is set to be the focal point of the Wildcat offense, averaging 12.1 points per game last season as the second option behind Love. While Dell’Orso took more of a defensive role during his junior year at Arizona, he averaged 19.1 points his sophomore year at Campbell.
The Arizona backcourt has more than a year of experience playing together, while Fland and Boogie have only practiced together. Fland missed key reps to build chemistry with Lee against one of the best teams in the Big Ten, No. 17 Illinois, in a scrimmage due to injury. Despite missing time, Fland is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, looking to heckle Bradley on offense.
“You have to keep him (Bradley) on one side,” Fland said. “We know he likes to cross the court. He’s very good at that and getting into their offense. Just keep him to one side. Shade him.”
If Lee and Fland can knock down shots while also assisting their bigs, it will be hard for Arizona to counter offensively.
Returning Frontcourts
Florida’s biggest strength is its returning frontcourt of Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Reuben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten. All four know the standard it takes to win a national championship and returned to Gainesville in hopes of recapturing that feeling despite larger offers.
Condon and Haugh have been dominant in the preseason. Condon, a first-team All-America, was described by coach Todd Golden as the “best player on the floor” against Illinois with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Haugh has embraced his new role on the wing, providing the Gators with one of the tallest starting lineups in the county.
“We thought it would be a pretty smooth transition for him [Haugh], Golden said. “We think he can really shoot … He can get downhill on the ball screen and finish at the rim. And on the other side of the floor, defensively, with his length and athleticism at the 3, alongside Condo and a combination of Rueben and Micah, we should be able to be pretty formidable on the defensive end and a fantastic rebounding team. So we might give up a little playmaking in the half court, but I do think the size and athletics will help us in the big picture.”
On the other hand, Arizona lost its main scorer in the paint in Henri Veesaar, who transferred to North Carolina. His replacement is five-star freshman Koa Peat, who is one of the most physically imposing 18 year olds in the country at 6-foot-8, 235 pounds. Tobe Awaka is the only returning frontcourt player who will get substantial minutes for Arizona. This is a battle that players like Chinyelu and Handlogten should be able to win, as they have height and strength on the 6-foot-8 Awaka.
The Wildcats are starting three guards, while the Gators are starting three forwards. In addition to Peat, another five-star freshman guard Brayden Burries is projected to complete the Wildcats backcourt. Defensively, whoever Haugh will be assigned to while he is at the three will have substantial speed on him. Whether Haugh is able to keep up defensively will be a huge factor between Florida starting its season in the win column.
Regardless of potential mismatches, Golden is confident he has built a roster capable of making an opening night statement.
“They [Arizona] play similarly to us offensively. They try to play with bigs, try to run the floor, do a lot of different things that way. So, I’m cautiously optimistic, but really understand that this is going to be a really difficult game. And hopefully we can win and teach a lot from the winning side.”
2026 Looming
The Gators are looking to do what the program accomplished in 2006 and 2007: go back-to-back. They have the talent and leadership to do so, it is all a matter of execution.
Category: College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball, NCAA
