Five Takeaways from Florida Men’s Basketball’s Opener
Less than eight months after falling to Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena, the Florida Gators made a statement in the same Tampa building to open the 2026-27 season Monday.
The No. 1 Gators took down the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes 77-67 in a contest that redeemed Florida from its woeful exit last season.
After shooting below 27% from 3 in the preseason, Florida came out firing, shooting 42.3% from behind the arc against Miami. Thomas Haugh led the way with 19 points and four 3-pointers as the Gators proved they could compete in ranked contests.
Here are five things that stood out from the Gators’ 10-point victory:
Florida is Built Ford Tough
Miami will likely be one of the most physically-demanding performances that Florida will endure this year. The Hurricanes racked up 27 personal fouls, headlined by a continuous battle down low between Rueben Chinyelu and Miami’s Somto Cyril, the Georgia transfer. The Hurricanes clearly came into this matchup looking to impose their will at whatever cost, but the Gators just didn’t let up. Florida entered the second half up 10 and ended the game up 10 even though it shot 8-for-25 in the second half.
After an explosive offensive showing in the first, the game transitioned into a bloodbath defensively and in the paint. The Hurricanes shot 9-for-31 in the second and ended up getting outrebounded by Florida 44-39.
“Miami’s a really good team, they got some big strong dudes out there,” UF coach Todd Golden said. “This was a very SEC-like game from a physicality standpoint.”
Miami was a true test to the level of physicality Florida will face against teams like Duke or in SEC play. With four of the Gators’ starters playing 30 or more minutes, Florida proved that endurance isn’t an issue, refusing to slow down the pace in the face of bodily harm.
Small Guards Eat against Gators Defense
Florida often sets up in a man defense and often switches on screens by the offense. Through three games in the public eye, Florida’s bigs have been targeted by smaller guards. When a big defender gets switched onto fast, twitchy guards, the Gators have struggled defensively.
Against Baylor in the preseason, the Gators allowed Kayden Mingo, a 6-foot-1 guard, to score 31 points on 9-for-15 shooting. In a shocking exhibition loss, Florida’s defense had no answer for Mingo’s efficiency.
In an 85-68 exhibition win against Stetson, Florida allowed Thiago Sucatzky to drop 18 points and six assists with no made 3-pointers. Sucatzky only stands 5-foot-10, but led the way for the Hatters by finding favorable matchups.
And against Miami, the Gators allowed 24 points to Acaden Lewis, making it the third-straight game that a player 6-foot-2 or shorter was the leading scorer against Florida.
At the same time, Lewis shot 9-for-20, only had one assist and gave up four turnovers. Golden mentioned the Gators were willing to live with tough mid-range shots and step-back 3s, as the team’s focus was staying attached to shooters off the bench.
“He didn’t get short roll opportunities for Reneau or Somto, or catch and shoot 3s for their shooters and we held them to 0.91 points per possession which is going to be one of the lowest they have all year,” Golden said.
Golden Didn’t Show his Hand in the Preseason
Florida looked like a completely different team in the season opener against Miami. The offense found more openings, the 3-point shooting was exquisite and the gameplan felt more prepared.
“I think the scout that they put together for this game was the best scout I’ve had since being here at Florida,” Haugh said. “It just felt like everything was moving how we knew it was going to move.”
The rotations also changed for the Gators. Against Baylor, Golden called AJ Brown, Urban Klavzar, Isaiah Brown and Viktor Mikic off the bench.
Since then, AJ Brown hasn’t played a single minute, Arturas Butajevas was the first frontcourt player off the bench against Miami and Domen Petrovic came in for 10 minutes against Miami and dropped two 3-pointers.
It could’ve just been a better gameplan to come out and dominate Miami in a fashion that wasn’t seen in exhibition play, but Florida didn’t get rattled in the face of Miami’s physicality. The combination of mental toughness and the ability to finally drain shots led the Gators to their first win of the season.
Shakiness at the Stripe Keeps Opponents in the Game
Florida shot 20-for-35 from the free throw line during Monday’s win. Florida needs to capitalize at the line in games like that where Miami totaled 27 personal fouls. The Gators shot 71.2% from the line last season and are shooting 58.8% between the preseason and regular season. The missed shots allowed Miami to stay in the game despite a dominant offensive and defensive performance from Florida.
“We had some big things that we can point to that weren’t anywhere near good enough, which was our free throw shooting and our ball handling in the second half,” Golden said. “For us to be able to win against this team by 10 with those severe issues, when we put a game together I think we’re going to be pretty tough to beat.”
Gators can Take Care of Business
Beginning the season No. 1, Florida enters every game with a target on its back. Golden and his players have all acknowledged that they get everybody’s best shot night after night.
With a win against No. 14 Miami, Florida proved that it can win major out-of-conference matchups as opposed to last year, when the Gators lost to Arizona to open the season. Florida also lost back-to-back games against UConn and Duke a few games before starting SEC play. Capturing a season-opening win sets the standard that Florida was striving to achieve last year throughout the SEC schedule.
“I think they’re going to be one of the top teams in the ACC for sure,” Golden said of the Hurricanes. “This is going to be a big win for us.”
Florida gets another opportunity to grow when it takes on Jacksonville (1-0) tonight at the O’Connell Center. Coverage begins 7:30 p.m. on 103.7-FM WRUF and at 8 p.m. SEC Network+.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Men's Basketball
