No. 19 Florida is coming off a tough loss, falling 76-67 to Auburn Saturday in the O’Connell Center despite erasing a 15-point deficit, to hand the Gators their first home loss of the season.
With that game in the past, UF (14-6, 5-2 SEC) takes on South Carolina (11-9, 2-5 SEC) in Columbia, South Carolina, Wednesday at 9 p.m. The Gators are looking to grab their fifth win in their last six meetings with the Gamecocks.
"They're dangerous is the way I think about them," Florida head coach Todd Golden said. "They have multiple guys that can really shoot it. They have some really good, talented players."
Here are four keys for Florida as it looks to grab its third-straight conference road win of the season.
Dominate the glass
Florida’s strength throughout its entire season is its ability to punish its opponents on the glass.
The Gators come into Wednesday’s contest first nationally with 46.2 rebounds per game, 17.2 offensive boards per outing and a plus-15.4 rebound margin. Conversely, South Carolina is averaging an SEC-worst 34.3 rebounds per game.
Rueben Chinyelu leads Florida’s attack on the glass with 11 rebounds a game, placing him fifth nationally. He is on track to be the first Gator since Bob Smyth (1975-76) to finish a season averaging double-figure rebounds. However, against Auburn on Saturday, the junior center was held to 10 points and seven rebounds, his lowest total on the boards since he logged four against Georgia on Jan. 6.
Alex Condon is coming off one of his weakest outings as a Gator, finishing Saturday’s contest with 1 point. He did record nine rebounds and three blocks. On the season, he is second behind Chinyelu with 8.1 rebounds a game. Wednesday’s outing provides the Aussie an opportunity to assert himself in the paint and show why he was named an AP Preseason All-American.
South Carolina’s leading rebounder is Mike Sharavjamts, with 5.6 boards per outing. This average puts him behind all four of Florida's returning frontcourt pieces, including Thomas Haugh with 6.7 and Micah Handlogten’s 6.2.
Given Florida’s advantage on the glass, expect the defending national champions to bounce back from Saturday’s contest, where they were outscored in the paint 38-28 by Auburn.
“For us to be our best, we need those guys to generally outplay our opponents," Golden said. "We need it to show up again tomorrow night, both with interior scoring and rebounding.”
Attack the rim
While rebounding has been a strong suit for the Gators, 3-point shooting has become their kryptonite.
UF enters Wednesday’s game with an SEC worst 28.5% shooting from beyond the arc. While Florida is getting open looks, it has at times forced shots from 3-point range.
For example, Condon has made one 3-pointer in the last six games for Florida, prompting teams to give him an open look when he receives the ball at the top of the key. Instead of settling for deep shots, he and the rest of the Gators need to attack the rim.
"When somebody's not guarding you, I think it can kind of mess you a little bit,” Golden said. “Where I need to do a better job is giving him the right plan when that happens. I thought we did a better job in the second half, but I got to figure that out sooner.”
South Carolina is last in the SEC with 2.6 blocks per game. Therefore, Florida should not fall for the trap of shooting from beyond the arc consistently. Instead, it should be willing to get into the paint.
Boogie Fland is averaging 11.3 points per game for the Gators despite shooting 19.5% from 3-point range because of his willingness not to settle for shots from beyond the arc. Against Oklahoma, the sophomore guard logged 15 points despite shooting 1 for 5 from beyond the arc because of his ability to score inside the arc. He finished the contest 6 of 11 from 2-point range.
Because the Gamecocks have struggled to protect the rim this season, Florida should take advantage and get closer to the basket instead of settling for 3-point attempts.
Get Xaivian Lee going
Despite having a 20-point outing against Vanderbilt on Jan. 17, where he hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 45 seconds to go, Xaivian Lee has struggled to stay a consistent scoring option for the Gators.
The senior guard has failed to reach double-digit points in four of Florida’s last six games, including a 7-point outing against LSU on Jan. 20, where he shot 3-for-7 from the field. Against Auburn on Saturday, he also recorded 7 points but on 2-of-3 shooting.
“He didn’t play well enough on Saturday,” Golden said. “When he’s in there with the starting group, we need him more aggressive, trying to score, being a good connector that way.”
Recently, Lee’s role in the offense has been limited, with the Toronto native attempting double-digit shots from the field in one of Florida’s last six games. The only time he did so was against the Commodores in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Gamecocks come into Wednesday struggling to keep opponents quiet offensively, allowing the second-worst shooting percentage in the SEC at 43.8% from the field.
Expect Lee to be more involved in Florida’s offense on Wednesday, looking to take advantage of South Carolina’s defensive struggles.
Convert at the line
One of the reasons for Florida’s upset loss to Auburn on Saturday was its inability to convert at the line.
The Gators finished 16-of-27 (59%) from the charity stripe, while the Tigers were 19-of-21 (90%), proving costly in a game decided by nine points.
“I think it's just unacceptable, just to be missing free throws,” Chinyelu said after the game. “It's called free for a reason.”
Overall, Florida is shooting 70.1% from the free-throw line, fourth-worst in the SEC.
In Wednesday’s game, where the Gators’ size advantage may force the Gamecocks to foul, Florida will have to perform better at the line. Especially on the road, where the fans in the Colonial Life Arena will try their best to distract the Florida players at the line, the Gators must take advantage of getting to the charity stripe.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
