On Monday night, Florida’s frontcourt showed why it stacks against some of the best in the nation.
The Gators came into the game No. 2 nationally in rebound margin due in large part to its four returning frontcourt pieces of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Rueben Chinyelu. The latter came into Florida’s final non-conference matchup averaging 10.8 boards a game, good for No. 9 in the nation.
Against Dartmouth, Florida continued its success on the boards, finishing the night with a 60-24 rebounding advantage. At the break, the Gators had more offensive rebounds (15) than the Big Green had total rebounds (9), leading to a 24-8 advantage for the Gators in points in the paint.
Florida’s dominance on the glass also proved vital to its ability to draw fouls. The Gators had 24 attempts from the free throw line compared to the Big Green’s seven attempts at the break, with UF’s frontcourt combined for 20 of these attempts.
With the Gators' dominance on the glass, Florida (9-4) prevailed in its first meeting against Dartmouth (5-7) 94-72 on Monday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center to end UF’s non-conference schedule.
“We played really well to start the game,” head coach Todd Golden said. “We had a really good first half. We played with great intent and obviously dominated them in the first however many minutes on the glass and played with great purpose.”
At the forefront of Florida’s frontcourt dominance was Condon. The preseason AP All-American finished the contest with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Condon also led Florida, going 9 for 12 from the line.
At the break, the junior forward logged 10 points and five rebounds in 11 minutes of play. He was limited during the first half after reaching two personal fouls in the first 62 seconds of the contest, forcing Golden to sit the Aussie to prevent further foul trouble.
Meanwhile, Chinyelu recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end. He also went 7 for 9 from the free throw line
The junior center showcased his dominance in the first half, where he followed a dunk with a block on Connor Amundsen’s layup attempt. That then led to a Haugh 3-pointer, giving the Gators a 16-point lead with 10:20 left in the first half.
“I’m showcasing what I have been working on,” Chinyelu said. “Just doing anything that I could to get my team up there.”
Off the bench, Handlogten imposed his will early with a team-high 10 rebounds at the end of the first half. The senior center finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Handlogten had back-to-back field goals to give the Gators a 76-41 lead with 10:32 left in the contest.
Haugh rounded out the frontcourt’s effort with 9 points and eight rebounds on 3-of-9 shooting from the field.
Florida’s backcourt also had success, with three double-digit scorers coming from the unit.
Starters Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland combined for 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. Fland finished the contest with a team-leading three steals, the last of which led to a dunk for the Arkansas transfer to give UF a 72-41 lead with 12:16 left.
Off the bench, Urban Klavzar provided a spark with 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half, on 4-of-7 shooting. The junior guard was the sole Gator to hit multiple times from beyond the arc, going 2 of 4 from three.
Florida will look to continue its success on the glass as it shifts into SEC play against Missouri in Columbia on Saturday. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. E.T.
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.
