With six minutes left and the Gators up by 40 points, “we want Oli” chants rained from the Rowdy Reptiles who were in attendance for Wednesday's game against Saint Francis.
Viktor Mikic, Alex Kovatchev and the rest of Florida’s bench was emptied except for one man, 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux. With 1:46 left in the game, the fans in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center erupted in celebration as Rioux made his third appearance of the season, searching for his first collegiate field goal.
On Florida’s second-to-last offensive possession, Rioux got his chance. With CJ Ingram's bounce pass finding the Canadian in stride for a dunk, the Florida bench and O’Dome crowd rose to its feet as Rioux became the tallest player in college basketball history to convert a field goal.
Rioux’s dunk was the cherry on top of Florida’s dominant 102-61 victory against Saint Francis, fueled by a balanced offensive attack with 12 Gators scoring and six finishing with double-digit points. Florida finished the night shooting 61% from the field and 37% from beyond the arc.
“We had good effort tonight,” head coach Todd Golden said. “We expected to win coming into it and a big part of the message to the guys was taking advantage of the opportunity to compete, back in our home gym.”
At the forefront of Florida’s offensive success was Xaivian Lee, who finished the contest with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Lee now has double-digit points in three of Florida’s last five games. Most of his damage came in the second half, where he had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
“I’ve been feeling pretty comfortable,” Lee said. “Shots are starting to fall, so it all looks a lot better. When shots are falling, everything kind of comes together.”
Junior forward Alex Condon fielded Florida’s offense in the first half en route to 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
At the break, Condon logged a team-leading 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Beyond scoring, he recorded two of his three blocks in the first 20 minutes, one of which led to two free throws, giving the Gators a 39-16 lead with 4:32 left in the first half.
“When these guys hit a few shots, the assists go up,” Condon said. “Being unselfish in the post is something that I want to do this year. A few teams have started to throw two at me, so I’ve got to spread the ball out a little bit.”
Junior center Rueben Chinyelu was the sole Gator to record a double-double against Saint Francis, with 12 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds. The Nigerian shot a perfect 5 for 5 from the field and 2 for 2 from the charity stripe for his fifth double-double of the campaign.
Chinyelu was involved in Florida’s efforts early, recording 8 points in 10 minutes by the end of the first half. His block on Ahmad Harrisson’s attempted layup led to a dunk of his own to give the Gators a 25-6 lead with 10:42 left in the half.
To round out Florida’s starters, Boogie Fland had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with his four assists. The Bronx native scored 9 points after the break, including a 3-pointer to give Florida an 83-43 lead with 6:47 left in the contest.
Micah Handlogten and Urban Klavzar led Florida’s bench, each with double-digit points.
Handlogten, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, recorded 10 points and eight rebounds, marking his first double-digit scoring effort since Florida’s 104-64 victory over North Florida on Nov. 6.
After scoring one point by halftime, Klavzar came to life in the second half. He logged 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including two 3-pointers in under two minutes to give the Gators a 71-37 lead with 11:39 left in the half.
Off the bench, Isaiah Brown took advantage of his eighth appearance of the season. He finished with 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
“He was really good,” Golden said. “He played with great pace and aggressiveness in the first half.”
He opened Florida’s bench scoring with a corner three to give the Gators a 17-6 lead with 14:17 left in the first half. At the break, the sophomore guard logged 7 points on 2-of-3 shooting in nine minutes. His two points in the second half came from a dunk to give Florida a 68-37 lead with 12:11 left in the game.
In addition to Rioux’s first made field goal, Alex Kovatchev logged his first points as a Gator with a 3-pointer, followed by Viktor Mikic’s first career make from beyond the arc with 2:05 left.
Florida will look to maintain its success on offense against Colgate at the O’Dome on Sunday, with tipoff set for noon.
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.
