What we’ve learned about Florida basketball as Gators turn to SEC play

As Florida basketball enters SEC play, the Gators have strung together four straight victories.

Still, Florida has its fair share of hurdles to climb, as was the case after the Gators’ win against Dartmouth, which found a way to outscore UF in the second half.

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“I didn’t think we played with enough pace and enough physicality, and that’s kind of the next step that we keep talking about, with this group,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Gators’ 94-72 win on Monday, Dec. 29. “We’ve got to play a full 40 (minutes), and if that means, you know, winning this game by 50, that’s what it means.”

Despite coming up short in some of its marquee matches in what was considered one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Gators have seen overall improvement.

“We’ve started taking better care of the ball,” Golden said. “We’ve started defending without fouling better, you know, did a good job keeping these teams off the line. We regressed, obviously, guarding the 3-point line these past four games.

“But those are the two areas specifically, and obviously Xaivian (Lee) has played a lot better over these last couple of weeks compared to how he played earlier in the year.”

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Front court is as advertised

As expected, the Gators have arguably the best front court in all of college basketball.

UF leads the country in rebound margin at 47.5 per game. That mark is fueled by Florida’s center, Rueben Chinyelu, who is ranked inside the top 10 of both offensive (18.1) and defensive rebounding percentage (29.2) according to KenPom.

The front court has also helped make Florida one of the toughest defensive teams in the country. According to KenPom, the Gators are ranked No. 11 in adjusted defensive rating at 94.8, which is the number of points scored or allowed per 100 possessions.

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Another key element has been Florida’s defense against 3-pointers, with opponents shooting 32% against the Gators. However, prior to the last two games,…

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Publish date : 2025-12-30 13:08:00

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