Winning a game while shooting 18.8% from beyond the arc is difficult. But tonight, for Florida, it was no problem.
The Gators can thank forward Alex Condon and the rest of the frontcourt for their dominant victory. The Gators (1-1) defeated the North Florida Ospreys (0-1) 104-64 at their home opener in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Thursday.
The junior forward started off hot with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals in the first half, pushing Florida to a 24-point advantage, and later the Aussie's first double-double in 2025. His performance comes after he struggled against Arizona on Monday, where he fouled out with 2:20 left in the game and had six turnovers.
“Last week, a lot of things didn’t go my way,” Condon said. “I had a mindset today that I just want to prove myself a little bit. Get back to what I do.”
On top of Condon’s performance, senior center Micah Handlogten recorded his second double-double of the season, recording 17 points and 13 rebounds in 18 minutes.
Despite continued struggles from beyond the arc, Florida grabbed its first win of the season and remains undefeated in its 12 meetings against UNF.
“We talked a lot about coming back with great energy and playing with a lot of intent," head coach Todd Golden said. “We imposed our will.”
Florida’s bigs made their presence known in the first half, with Condon opening the game with a put-back score.
After the Ospreys took a 10-9 lead, Condon’s and-one off a Boogie Fland missed corner three ignited the Gators’ 31-3 run in the next 10 minutes. During this span, Condon scored nine points. Eventually, the Gators’ scoring dominance led to a 52-28 halftime lead.
But Condon’s productivity was not the only sign of Florida’s dominance in the paint.
After the first half, Florida had a 33-13 rebounding advantage, including more offensive rebounds (13) than North Florida had defensive rebounds (9). Additionally, the Gators scored 20 more points in the paint than the Ospreys, finishing the first half with 36 points in the paint and an 18-6 advantage in second-chance points.
“It’s what we need to be if we want to be really good,” Golden said. “When we play teams that don’t have the depth and the size, the physicality on the front line, but we do, we have to impose our will.”
The defending national champions continued to find success from their frontcourt in the second half.
By the final buzzer, Condon, Handlogten and Thomas Haugh reached double figures. Golden let the reserves get some time on the court, and sophomore center Viktor Mikic took advantage of the opportunity, recording four points in five minutes on 2 for 3 shooting from the field.
To cap it off for Florida’s frontcourt, redshirt freshman Olivier Rioux played the final three minutes of the contest. The 7-foot-9 center made history, becoming the tallest player to make an appearance in NCAA history.
“Hearing from everybody, it was amazing,” Rioux said. “Being on the bench and even hearing the fans, they’ve been very, very supportive. I’m very grateful.”
While he didn’t score, the crowd’s roar in response to him checking in was the cherry on top of a dominant performance from Florida’s frontcourt.
Despite the Gators’ overall success, there were a few notable flaws in the backcourt’s performance.
After landing 3 of 11 shots beyond the arc against Arizona, senior transfer Xavian Lee struggled again from three. The Toronto native shot 2 for 8 from distance, starting the game missing his first five attempts. He eventually scored 10 points, shooting 4 for 11.
Fland and Urban Klavzar also struggled from three. The two combined for a staggering 0 for 7 from three-point range.
Another point of struggle was the Gators’ inconsistencies in the turnover battle. Florida lost the turnover battle 23-13. Freshman Alex Lloyd and Haugh had 3 turnovers apiece.
“Obviously, we’d like to knock down more shots,” Haugh said. “Six for 32 from three, it’s not great, but that’s gonna happen. We got good guards that are shooters.”
Florida will look to continue its dominance in size but improve its perimeter play against Florida State in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Fall 2025 enterprise and men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
