The defending national champions make their long-awaited return to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
However, their return will be more bitter than expected, coming off a season-opening loss Monday to No. 13 Arizona (1-0) in Las Vegas.
Following its 93-87 loss, Florida needs to make a couple of changes before hosting North Florida, a team it hasn’t lost to across 11 contests in program history.
“I'm super disappointed we lost,” head coach Todd Golden said after Monday’s game. “It gives us a great opportunity to teach our team before we play North Florida on Thursday.”
Here are five key points for the Gators to have success in their home opener.
Be physical early
On Monday, Arizona proved to be more physical than Florida, providing the Gators with issues on both ends of the court.
On defense, the Gators were unable to sustain consistent stops after taking a 32-20 lead.
Forward Koa Peat and guard Jaden Bradley helped fuel the Arizona offense through their aggressive drives to the basket. As a result, the two combined for 57 points and played a role in Florida's big men, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon, fouling out.
Against UNF, Florida will need to establish an edge in physicality. The Ospreys' biggest player is Nestor Daychok at 6-foot-9 and 218 pounds. In their lone scrimmage against Warner, the Moscow native scored six points and had five rebounds en route to an 84-60 victory.
On the flip side, Florida's four returning big men, which is considered a strong suit of the team, are all bigger than Daychok. Look for Florida to get its big men going early and establish physicality on both offense and defense.
The Gators were outrebounded 21-12 in the first half against Arizona. North Florida lost the rebound battle 42-40 against Warner in its opener. With Florida’s substantial size advantage, the Gators will look to take care of the boards to further set that physical edge.
“We’ve got to dominate the boards,” Golden said. "Thursday's gotta be a great advantage for us on the glass.”
Lock down UNF's guards
In their scrimmage, North Florida's Kent Jackson and Kamrin Oriol led the team in scoring, with 16 points apiece.
Oriol, one of seven returners for the Ospreys, averaged 7.8 points per game last season. In the scrimmage, the senior shot 6-for-11 from the field along with five assists and five rebounds.
Jackson is a sophomore transfer from Jacksonville who brings elite shooting skills to a team that ranked first in three point shots made amongst Division I programs. He shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc against Werner.
During the offseason, many players on Florida's team praised Boogie Fland's ability to defend the ball. The sophomore transfer from Arkansas will need to assert his presence early to slow down the UNF's guards, especially Jackson, who has a smaller frame at 6-foot-2 and 169 pounds.
“We need him to be consistently really good defensively,” Golden said. “I think he will be moving forward.”
Take care of the ball
In Las Vegas, Florida turned over the ball 15 times, leading to 16 points off turnovers for the Wildcats. Condon himself had six turnovers.
The turnover battle is where UNF found most of its success against Warner. The Ospreys won the turnover battle 16-8 and had a 20-5 advantage in points off turnovers. Oriol himself had four steals.
It will be important for primary ball handlers Fland and Lee to settle in early and take care of the ball. They might even hold more of the ball, so the big men like Condon do not have to worry too much about ball-handling, which played a significant role in Condon’s high turnover count.
On the flip side, Florida will need to maintain its defensive aggression that forced 14 turnovers Monday. Late in the contest, UF fueled the late-game comeback, giving Arizona difficulties inbounding the ball with under a minute left.
Get Lee and Fland going
Last game, Florida's backcourt transfers started the game strong, accounting for all of Florida's first nine points. However, after that, they got cold.
Lee and Fland combined for 23 points on just 8 of 26 shooting from the field. Lee shot 2-for-10 from beyond the arc after hitting his first attempt to start the game. Fland missed both of his attempts from three, including one with under 40 seconds to go, with a chance to tie the game after Florida forced a turnover off Arizona's inbounds pass.
Their inconsistent shooting played a significant role in Florida’s shooting 25.9% from three-point range against Arizona and 16.7% beyond the arc in the second half.
At home, it will be important for the two transfer guards to get comfortable in the game early and ease the load on Florida's frontcourt. A dominant performance will help the two build confidence ahead of Florida's tough pre-conference schedule, which includes games at Duke and against UConn in New York City.
Feed off home energy
Thursday will be Florida's first home game since being crowned kings of the college basketball world. There’s no doubt that fans will be out and in full support as they look forward to another season of Gators basketball.
Feeding off the fan energy can bring Florida success early in the game, making it a challenging task for North Florida to mount a comeback. Additionally, it is head coach Bobby Kennen's first game in charge of the Ospreys, so it will be key for the Gators to put their foot on the gas early and make it difficult for Kennen to lead his team in a hostile environment.
In Las Vegas, the "U-of-A" chants helped push Arizona to a 30-14 run to end the first half with a 50-46 lead. Despite Florida forcing two ties in the last 20 minutes, the crowd energy from the Wildcat fans proved valuable in fueling Arizona's fight to retain the lead for the remainder of the game.
This time around, look for the Rowdy Reptiles and the rest of the O'Dome to be loud and keep the Ospreys out of the contest.
After a frustrating start on Monday, the Gators will rely on the fan support to power them to their first win of the season today at 8 p.m.
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.
