Heat From Deep: Can Urban Klavzar Catching Fire Ignite Gators Guards?
Despite winning its last five SEC matchups, shooting woes are still plaguing No. 16 Florida.
For a program that won a national championship off the foundation of 3-pointers last season this year’s squad has shot an SEC-worst 28.6% 3-point percentage.
However, a win Tuesday night against LSU 79-61 was a welcome sight for the Florida backcourt. Junior guard Urban Klavzar came off the bench and dropped a game-high 18 points, including going 5-for-9 from distance.
That was the first time a Gator hit five or more 3s in a game since Walter Clayton Jr. in the Final Four against Auburn on April 5, 2025.
“Yeah, I mean, it feels great,” Klavzar said Tuesday. “At Vandy, I didn’t shoot the ball that well, so I just tried to be aggressive again and just shoot the ball. And it feels great when he goes in, so I’m really happy.”
Florida got an impressive 98-94 road win over No. 15 Vanderbilt, with Xaivian Lee hitting a clutch step-back 3 to ice the game. In the 91-67 win over Tennessee, Boogie Fland took over the backcourt’s scoring responsibility with 23 points.
Not once this year have Klavzar, Fland and Lee shot the rock efficiently in the same game. The trio has shown glimpses of what they can do offensively — and defense should fear the result of the three guards clicking at the same time.
“I mean, we work on it every day,” Klavzar said. “So, I think we’re trying – I mean, we’re finding it every day more and more. So, it’s going to be very good for us, I think. When we shoot the ball that well, it’s tough to beat us.”
Klavzar has been the best 3-point shooter on the floor for Florida all year, hitting 37.3% from behind the arc. Especially with the transfers’ unexpected inefficiencies this season, the Slovenian guard’s minutes have been rising. Klavzar’s performance against LSU is a great sign of what this backcourt could be if Fland and Lee figure out their struggles.
“He’s [Klavzar] settled into the role that we hoped he would this year, just being in that little spark plug on the bench, being able to come in and make shots and give a little offensive lift, once we got our bench in there,” coach Todd Golden said. “But he’s awesome. He has the respect of his teammates. They know he’s going to go to war with them and fight. And you know, when a guy has the ability to step up and hit big shots on the move like that, it’s a weapon and he’s been big for us all year.”
Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
