Florida Men’s Basketball Cruises to Victory in Final Non-Conference Contest
No. 22 Florida closed out non-conference play Monday with its 13th consecutive home victory. The Gators picked up the 94-72 win in their first meeting with the Dartmouth Big Green in program history.
Florida’s previous two victories this month came by a combined 71 points. Senior Xaivian Lee entered Monday as the Gators’ leading scorer in each of the four prior contests, and five of the last six. Lee, a former Princeton standout, was familiar with the Big Green (5-7).
The 6-foot-4 guard has squared off with Dartmouth six times prior to Monday. He totaled 57 points in Princeton’s two 2023 games against the Ivy League foe. Lee added 12 points in the Gators (9-4) win.
He has emerged as the valuable transfer Florida expected. Lee averaged 20.3 points in UF’s previous three contests.
While the Toronto native played a role in the victory, a prominent part of Florida’s play has been its efficiency on the boards. Florida out-rebounded Dartmouth at the break by 28.
UF made its presence felt in the paint and finished the contest with 65 rebounds, 35 of which came on the offensive side.
The Gators’ 16.7 offensive rebounds per game led the nation entering Monday. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu has been at the forefront of the group, averaging 10.8 total boards. The commander of the frontcourt tallied 12 rebounds.
The rest of Florida’s big men also carried the load on the boards. Senior Micah Handlogten led all players at halftime with 10 rebounds. He also came out of the win with 12.
Junior Thomas Haugh was close behind with seven. The Big Green roster was kept without an offensive board after 20 minutes of play.
Both the Gators and Big Green found themselves in foul trouble early.
The opening half featured 26 free throws from the Gators. They average 18.9 makes from the line per game, and nearly met the total in the first 20 minutes.
Both Chinyelu and junior Alex Condon picked up three fouls with more than three minutes remaining in the opening half. Condon, the Aussie forward, nearly saw his sixth double-double of the season. He finished the contest with 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Chinyelu notched double figures with 13 points and a dozen boards.
The Gators struggled in defending the perimeter.
UF allowed an average of 70.3 points and 30.6% 3-point rate heading into the matchup in Gainesville. The Big Green shot 44% from beyond the arc and were successful on more than half of the shots from 3 in the second half.
Dartmouth outscored Florida 45-41 in the final 20 minutes of play.
The Gators’ ninth win of the year closes the opening page of the 2025 chapter. Florida welcomes SEC play for the remainder of the season after facing three top-5 opponents in the non-conference.
Next up: The Gators will travel to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers (10-3) on Saturday. Tipoff from Mizzou Arena is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
Category: Basketball, College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
