Down one with 1.4 seconds left, the Gators had a chance to do something they haven’t done in program history: beat the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
However, after a deflected inbound pass that threw off Florida's final play, the buzzer sounded, and the Gators' opportunity was gone.
As a result, the defending national champions fell short 67-66 against No. 4 Duke on Tuesday in the SEC-ACC Challenge. Florida (5-3) falls to 3-14 against Duke (9-0).
“Obviously a disappointing result,” head coach Todd Golden said. “We gave our best effort of the year tonight – on the road, here at Duke, incredibly difficult environment to play in.”
Here are five takeaways from the Gators' 1-point loss to the Blue Devils.
The Gators played their best half of the season
After the first half, Florida seemed lost and out of the contest.
Duke's 17-5 run gave the Blue Devils a 36-24 lead at the break. Their defense was relentless, holding the Gators to 29% from the field and 19% from beyond the arc. The Cameron Crazies, Duke’s student section, also made Florida's life difficult, and the Gators’ defense struggled communicating due to the loud atmosphere.
However, coming out of the half, the Gators got right back into the contest.
After Duke scored the first points of the second half, the defending national champions went on a 14-2 run, started by a Xaivian Lee 3-pointer. After Duke answered with an 8-0 run, giving the home team a 54-45 lead with nine minutes left in the game, Florida answered with a 6-0 run to stay in the game.
Despite Cameron Boozer drilling a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 62-59 lead with 2:10 left, Florida went on a 7-2 run to take its first lead of the half.
“I thought it was our best 20 minutes overall, period,” Golden said.
Ultimately, Duke came out on top, but Florida's mental toughness showed, staying the course after a first half filled with struggles on both ends of the court in one of the loudest atmospheres in college basketball.
Turnovers continue to haunt Florida
Against TCU on Thanksgiving Day, Florida committed 19 turnovers, which played a big factor in the 84-80 upset loss.
On Tuesday, against Duke, Florida had 13 turnovers, with two costly mistakes toward the end of the game.
After Isaiah Evans drilled a 3 with 21 seconds to go, the Gators brought the ball up the court with the opportunity to hand the Blue Devils the first loss of the season. Instead, sophomore guard Boogie Fland coughed up the ball to Cam Foster while being double-teamed.
Florida had one final chance with 1.4 seconds left and Duke leading 66-67, but on the inbound play, Thomas Haugh's pass was deflected, leading to a Maliq Brown steal and Florida's third loss of the season.
“I had a stupid turnover,” Haugh said. “Boogie turned it over, too. That’s on us."
Thomas Haugh shines in bright lights
Similar to Florida's opening game against Arizona, Haugh singlehandedly kept the Gators in the game. Against the Wildcats, his career-high 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the line kept the Gators in the second half with a chance to take the lead late in the game.
In Tuesday's matchup, Haugh answered back with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field.
At the break, Haugh had 13 of Florida's 24 points, keeping the game in reach and answering Cameron Boozer, who finished the half with 16 points. The junior forward had five points in one minute to tie the game at 19 with eight minutes left in the first half.
After 20 minutes, Haugh was the only Gator to make multiple shots from the field.
Even with a quieter second half, Haugh's early-game success helped open the floor for the rest of the Gator offense.
“He was exceptional,” Golden said. “He delivers every night for us. Whether it’s stuffing the stat sheet or just making winning plays across the floor, when we sit there getting ready for the jump ball, we feel really good that we’re going to win that matchup, whoever he’s going up against and he delivered again.”
Boogie Fland showed his offensive capabilities
Coming into the contest shooting 23% from three, an 11% drop from last season, Boogie Fland showed his value late in the game against the Blue Devils.
The sophomore transfer from Arkansas finished the night with 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including two made 3-pointers, but a majority of his damage was done in the second half.
Fland had 6-straight points for the Gators to cut the deficit to one with 2:39 left in the second half. Then, the Bronx native made his biggest shot with Florida, hitting from beyond the arc to give the Gators a 66-64 lead with 35 seconds left in the game.
He also proved himself on the defensive end, leading all players with three steals. With 12:39 left in the second half, Fland took the ball away from Boozer, leading to a layup down the court to cut Florida's deficit to three.
"I’m proud of our fight,” Haugh said. “Boogie [Fland] stepped up there at the end and knocked down some really big shots that we know he’s able to hit.”
Florida's frontcourt is elite
For the first time this season, the Gators won the rebound battle in a game that they fell short in.
Duke’s frontcourt came into the game No. 12 in the country in rebound margin. Its big men, Boozer and Patrick Ngongba II, also lead the team in scoring. However, the Gators were the superior team on the glass, finishing the night with a 44-33 rebounding advantage and 20 offensive rebounds on 42 missed shots.
Rueben Chinyelu led Florida with 14 rebounds. His 4 points came on two instances where he grabbed the offensive rebound off a missed shot and went back up to score.
“Credit to Rueben Chinyelu,” Golden said. “He was absolutely remarkable in the second half defensively, made [Boozer’s] life really difficult for the most part and making him more inefficient in the second half was what gave us the opportunity to outscore them by 11.”
Alex Condon also showed dominance on the glass, finishing the night with 10 rebounds to go along with 12 points for a double-double. The junior forward led all players with six offensive rebounds.
As a result of Florida's ability to clean the glass, not a single player on Duke finished the game with double-digit rebounds.
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.
