At the break, despite the over 11,000 Florida fans gathered to cheer them on in American Bank Arena, the Gators’ offensive was struggling. The defending national champions were leading by just 30-27 at the end of the first half.
By that point in the game, Florida was shooting 37% from the field and 21% from three — despite Thomas Haugh and Xaivian Lee drilling the team’s first two attempts from beyond the arc. With 54 seconds left before halftime, Reuben Chinyelu even attempted a 3-pointer and missed the mark completely.
“As a team, we have so many strengths, and obviously shooting hasn’t been one so far,” Lee said. “It’s only up from here. We’re all gonna make a lot more shots in the future.”
However, out of the half, the Gators soared with an 11-0 run, fueled by Lee, who finished with a season-high 24 points, and Haugh. Florida soon had its largest lead of 20 points with 12:31 left in the game.
From that point, there was no looking back, as Florida fought off George Washington 80-70 at the AutoNation Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday. Now, the Gators are 20-4 at the annual double-header series in South Florida.
“We did a decent job competing,” head coach Todd Golden said. “We need to do a better job. For us to be the best we can be, we need to be more consistent with our level of physical and competitiveness over 40 minutes.”
Haugh and Lee were in rhythm early on for the Gators, combining for 21 of Florida’s 30 points at the end of the first half.
Haugh opened the scoring for the Gators on their first offensive possession with a shot from beyond the arc. He finished the first half with a game-leading 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Lee started the game, drilling his first three attempts from the field, including two 3-pointers.
The two continued their success in the second half.
Lee had 14 points after the break. He went 8 for 10 from the charity stripe, including 3 of 4 to start Florida’s second half run. Toronto shot 2 of 3 from the field, including a 3-pointer with 4:16 left in the game to give the Gators a 64-48 lead that the Revolutionaries were unable to come back from. Lee won Orange Bowl Classic MVP for his performance.
“When I’m on the floor I always want to have an impact, even when I’m not making shots,” Lee said.
Haugh had 8 points, including a series of dunks. His last two came on a lob from Alex Condon to give the Gators a 73-61 lead, thwarting GW’s late-game attempt at a comeback.
Boogie Fland, like the rest of the team, was able to turn things around in the second half. He finished with 12 points, all of which came after the break, along with a team-high five assists.
After shooting 0 for 4 in the first half, the Bronx native went 4 of 5 from the field in the second half, where he played 18 minutes. His dunk with 7:08 left in the half gave the Gators a 59-43 lead to end GWs 9-0 run in just over a minute.
Florida’s defense also played an important role in keeping the lead for the defending national champions despite a slow start on offense.
In the first 20 minutes, the Revolutionaires, who came into Saturday No. 5 in three-point shooting at 41%, logged 25% shooting from beyond the arc on 12 attempts.
Despite GW turning things around to shoot 43% from three on 14 attempts, Florida’s defense was able to keep Chris Caputo’s team quiet for some stretches. For example, the Revolutionaires did not make a shot for six straight minutes in the second half.
“When we’ve guarded well, everything opens up for us,” Golden said. "We did a really good job creating turnovers and enforcing tough shots around the rim that led to transition.”
Next, the Gators return to the Stephen C O’Connell Center for the first time in almost a month to host Saint Francis on Wednesday.
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.
