Four times.
That’s how many times the Gators lost during their championship run. Florida started the season 13-0 before losing its first game and finished the year winning their final 12 games.
But nine games into the 2025-26 season, the Gators have already reached their loss total from their previous season. The No. 18 Gators (5-4) lost to the No. 5 Huskies (9-1) 77-73 Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Here are four takeaways from Florida’s loss:
Xaivian Lee looked better, but he still has a ways to go
Xaivian Lee was one of the top transfer guards in the portal when Florida landed him, but the Princeton transfer has struggled immensely since moving from the Ivy League this past summer. He was averaging just 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists on 24.7% shooting heading into Tuesday.
Following a disastrous outing against Duke, where he finished with 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting, Lee took a step up in orchestrating Florida’s offense against a UConn team that ranked No. 7 defensively, per KenPom. Lee finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. However, his shooting struggles didn’t improve, as he finished 5 of 14 from the field and 1-of-7 beyond the arc.
Lee didn’t make a shot in the final 16 minutes of the game, but he did get to the free throw line, making 8 of 9 attempts from the charity stripe across 38 minutes.
Florida’s 3-point woes continue
Entering Tuesday, Florida ranked outside the top-250 teams in 3-point percentage. Only 25 teams in college basketball have shot the 3-ball worse than the Gators. It’s been a stark contrast from Florida’s championship team, which shot 35.6% from beyond the arc and had three players who landed 35% or more of their shots.
The Gators went 4 of 15 (27%) from 3-point range against the Huskies. Trailing by six with 1:40 left in the game, Lee took a shot from the top of the key and airballed it wide left of the cup.
Through nine games, only Urban Klavzar is shooting above 35% from 3-point range. Shockingly, Thomas Haugh is second on the team in 3-point percentage, landing 34.7% of his attempts.
Foul trouble spoiled a homecoming for Boogie Fland
Boogie Fland was excited to play at home. Growing up in the Bronx, just 35 minutes away from Madison Square Garden, Fland bought roughly 200 tickets for his friends and family to attend the game.
However, his homecoming event was spoiled when he quickly got into foul trouble. Fland committed three fouls within the first 13 minutes of the game and was forced to sit out for the majority of the first half.
He finished with just 8 points in 22 minutes played. Fland committed a costly 5-second violation with 9 seconds left in the game and Florida trailing 76-73. He eventually fouled out when UConn got the ball back and Solo Ball drove to the rim, forcing him to have to commit his fifth foul.
UConn has a Final Four ceiling
Despite Florida already reaching its loss total from last season, the Gators’ nonconference schedule this season has been significantly more difficult than in years past. UF has matched up against No. 2 Arizona, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 UConn.
Florida’s loss to TCU is inexcusable, but every other loss it has suffered has come at the hands of talented and experienced teams, and the Gators are still figuring out how to gel with new faces in their backcourt and a slimmer bench.
UConn is one of the best teams in the country and has one of the most impressive resumes through 10 games, beating No. 10 BYU, No. 13 Illinois, No. 18 Florida and No. 19 Kansas.
The Huskies also rank top-15 in offensive and defensive efficiency, placing them No. 7 on KenPom’s team rankings.
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on X @lukeadrag.
Luke is The Alligator's Sports Editor and is a senior sports journalism student. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his cat named Pete and going down a rabbit hole of niche professional athletes (shoutout Charles Sims).
