Florida men’s basketball is coming off one of its biggest wins of the season in the midst of a four-game winning streak.
On Jan. 17, No. 19 Florida (13-5, 4-1 SEC) defeated No. 10 Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2 SEC) 98-94 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Gators pulled off the victory as a result of 20-point efforts from Xaivian Lee, whose 3-pointer gave Florida the lead with under a minute left, and Rueben Chinyelu, who grabbed his 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
“This is a huge win for our program,” said head coach Todd Golden. “It makes me even more proud of our group being able to come in here and find a way to win in a great environment. We showed a lot of grit and toughness today.”
The Gators are now 4-6 in road games against top-10 ranked opponents under Golden. While this record may not seem noteworthy, Florida held a 5-62 record in these games before Golden’s arrival.
Here’s a look back at the three other instances Golden led Florida to a road victory against a top-10 opponent.
No. 1 Auburn, Feb. 8, 2025:
No. 6 Florida went to Auburn looking to grab its first win on the road against a No. 1 team. While the Gators beat No. 1 Tennessee at home 73-43 a month prior, this test was different. Florida came into the game having lost three of its last four games in Neville Arena and with injuries to its frontcourt.
Walter Clayton Jr. was absent from the game prior to Auburn with an ankle sprain. Additionally, second-leading scorer Alijah Martin was scratched 30 minutes before tipoff due to a hip pointer.
Nonetheless, Clayton — as he did numerous times throughout the Gators’ national championship run — showed up when the team needed him. He finished the contest with a team-high 19 points, playing all 40 minutes of the game. He also recorded four 3-pointers and a career-high nine assists.
"He looked great," Golden said. "I warned him at that point, 'Dude, there's a good chance you play 40 [minutes].' He was like, 'I got it.' The rest is history."
Fueled by Clayton’s efforts, Florida (20-3, 7-3 SEC) defeated No. 1 Auburn (21-2, 9-1 SEC) 90-81. Florida’s offense put on a clinic, shooting 48% from the field and converting 13 3-pointers, helping the team to a 21-point lead in the second half before the Tigers crawled back.
Alex Condon provided Florida with a double-double. The then-sophomore logged 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. His dunk with 12:31 left in the second half gave the Gators a 70-53 lead.
Off the bench, Thomas Haugh put up 16 points and nine rebounds on 4-of-10 shooting. He also had a team-high three blocks, all of which came in the second half. His sole 3-pointer in the contest put Florida up 47-38 with 16 seconds before the half.
"That's just the kind of player I am," Haugh said. "It takes grit. Sometimes you got to just go do those things."
As a result, Florida handed Auburn its second home loss in 26 games over the last two seasons, and the Gators moved up to the No. 3 spot in the AP Top 25 poll. The Gators would get the last laugh later in the season when they tamed the Tigers in the Final Four.
No. 7 Alabama, March 5, 2025:
The No. 5 Gators headed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a primetime matchup in their last regular-season away game of the 2024-25 campaign. Florida entered the contest winless in its last three trips to Coleman Coliseum. Moreover, two games prior, Florida was upset on the road against Georgia, 88-83.
Alabama entered the contest as the highest-scoring and fastest team in the nation, but it was slowed by the physical Gators, led by Condon.
The Aussie made his return to the court and first start after spraining his ankle Feb. 11, 2025, against No. 22 Mississippi State. He finished the game with a career performance, logging 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
“The first little section that I played, I was just getting my feet back under me, getting used to starting again," Condon said. "Credit to our guys. They did a great job of getting me in the right spots tonight."
With 4:47 left in the contest, Condon received a lob from Clayton and dunked over Alabama’s Clifford Omoruyi to give UF an 82-71 advantage.
Clayton recorded 22 points on the night, going 8-for-20 from the field. He also had a team-high eight assists in 36 minutes of action. His free throw with four seconds left sealed the 99-94 victory for Florida (26-4, 13-4 SEC) over Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC).
Martin and Haugh were the two other Gators to put up double-digit points. Martin had 10 points and five rebounds, while Haugh led the bench with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
This win marked the first time in program history that the Gators had multiple top-10 road wins in the same season. After winning its following game against Ole Miss 90-71, UF moved up one spot to No. 4 in the AP poll.
No. 10 Kentucky, Jan. 31, 2024:
An unranked Florida came into the game against SEC rival Kentucky riding a three-game win streak, looking to make a push for the NCAA Tournament.
A then-junior, Clayton led the Gators with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc. With five seconds left in the second half, he drilled a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
“Me and the guys been saying all year, ‘It’s us versus us,’ so we know what we are capable of, and tonight, we came out and showed that,” Clayton said.
After 15 ties and 29 lead changes, Florida (15-6, 5-3 SEC) defeated No. 10 Kentucky (15-5, 5-3 SEC) 94-91 in overtime. UF ended a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats and grabbed its first road win against a top-10 opponent since 2003 at No. 7 Mississippi State.
Graduate transfers Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin also had 20-point efforts for the Gators.
Samuel logged 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting and 13 rebounds en route to his ninth double-double of the season. He also had a team-high four blocks. He opened the scoring for the Gators in overtime with a jumper.
Pullin, who led the team with 41 minutes of action, recorded 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting. He had seven rebounds in addition to a team-leading seven assists and two steals. He provided the assist for Clayton’s 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
With this win, Golden grabbed his first top-10 road win as Florida’s head coach; however, the Gators did not make the next AP poll as a result of losing their next outing 67-66 at Texas A&M.
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
