With four games left in conference play, the No. 7 Gators look to maintain their distance atop the Southeastern Conference standings.
On Wednesday, Florida (21-6, 12-2 SEC) travels to Austin to take on Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC) at 7 p.m. ET. With a win, UF will extend its win streak to eight and seven straight on the road.
“They’ve been a tough team to play with, and I think they’re really good,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “It’s going to be a really tough challenge on the road.”
Here are four keys for the Gators to grab a win in their first game at Texas since 1997.
Stay in rhythm from 3
Despite entering Wednesday’s contest shooting an SEC-worst 30.1% from 3-point range, Florida has found recent success from beyond the arc.
The Gators have shot better than their season average from deep in three of their last four outings. On Saturday against Ole Miss, Florida shot a season-best 50% from 3-point range.
Wednesday provides another opportunity for UF to continue its recent success from 3, as Texas gives up 35.8% shooting from beyond the arc, putting them third-worst in the conference. In their 91-80 loss to Georgia on Saturday, the Longhorns gave up 11-of-20 (55%) shooting from beyond the arc.
For Florida to get going from 3, it starts with junior guard Urban Klavžar.
The Slovenian has recorded double-digit points in seven of his last nine outings, including a 15-point performance on 4-of-5 shooting beyond the arc against the Rebels on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Boogie Fland could also benefit from another successful performance from a distance.
The Arkansas transfer came into Saturday’s game shooting 17.9% from beyond the arc, but went 3 for 6 from 3-point range against Ole Miss. That contest marked his first game with three makes from long range since Florida’s 91-67 win over Tennessee on Jan. 10.
Understanding that the Gators’ frontcourt dominance and getting shots to fall from beyond the arc to complement the interior game could put Florida in a good spot to defeat Texas.
“We try to play a certain style that gives us a high floor and allows us to play well through spans of not shooting the ball well,” Golden said Saturday. “When we do make shots like that, we have the ability to run away from teams.”
Defend with Discipline
While Texas may not be a top-tier scoring offense in the conference, the Longhorns are one of the more efficient ones, shooting 49.7% from the field. That mark ranks second in the SEC.
The Longhorns also punish teams defensively by getting to the free-throw line, ranking second in the conference with 725 free-throw attempts and 543 makes from the charity stripe this season.
A large reason for these figures is 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis, who is averaging 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. The Lithuanian, who transferred from Florida Atlantic after winning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year last season, is shooting 64.4% from the field and averaging 8.3 free throw attempts a night.
Moreover, Dailyn Swain, who leads the Longhorns with 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, is shooting 57.2% from the field and gets to the charity stripe around 5.4 times per contest.
So far this season, Florida’s defense has been a catalyst for winning, holding teams to a conference-best 40.4% shooting from the field.
In order to slow down Texas’s offense on Saturday, Florida must limit the amount of high-percentage shots and trips to the free-throw line.
“That’s a huge part of the game tomorrow,” Golden said. “If they get to the line a lot I think it's going to be hard to beat them. If we do a good job of keeping them off the line, we’ll give ourselves a fair chance to win the game.”
Win the turnover battle
Despite cruising to a 94-75 win over the Rebels on Saturday, the Gators struggled in the turnover battle.
Florida finished the contest minus-eight in turnover margin and minus-11 in points off turnovers.
At the forefront of UF’s turnover issues was senior guard Xaivian Lee, who finished Saturday’s game with a team-high four turnovers. In the game prior against South Carolina on Tuesday, the Princeton transfer had five turnovers.
Moreover, Alex Condon has struggled to take care of the ball, recording 17 turnovers over the last four outings.
“We need to improve that way offensively for sure,” Golden said. “We regressed in our ability to take care of the ball. The fundamental things that have made us good over the past month and a half, which one is taking care of the ball, was not there.”
However, Texas has also struggled throughout the season to finish games on the right side of the turnover battle, entering Wednesday’s game with a minus-1.2 turnover margin, placing them third-worst in the SEC.
Swain leads the team with 2.7 turnovers per outing and has not gone a game without a mistake since Nov. 15 against Kansas City. Vokietaitis follows with 2.1 turnovers a game.
The turnover battle could play a deciding factor in Wednesday's game, and with Florida’s Boogie Fland and Lee averaging 2.0 and 1.1 steals per game, respectively, the Gators will rely on these two to make sure they come out on top.
Fight on the glass
While Florida may have one of the better frontcourts in college basketball, leading the nation with 45.8 rebounds per game, 16.1 offensive boards per outing, and a plus-14.7 rebounding margin, Texas’ frontcourt won’t go down without a fight.
The Longhorns are giving up a second-best in the conference, 29.6 rebounds a night to opponents. To overcome UT’s effort on the glass, Florida must rely on big men Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon.
Chinyelu is averaging a team-high 11.8 boards a night and is one offensive rebound away from setting a single-season program record that would surpass Dwayne Davis’ 114 offensive boards from the 1988-89 season. However, last time out against Ole Miss, the junior center was limited to six rebounds, his lowest rebound total since he logged four against Georgia on Jan. 6.
“I know last game he looked down on himself, but you can tell that he wasn't used to not getting the same amount of rebounds,” Condon said. “I'm sure that he's going to bounce back this game and be super motivated, ready to go.”
Behind Chinyelu is Condon, who is averaging eight rebounds per outing. He was limited to four boards against the Rebels on Saturday, tying his season low in the glass, which came against LSU on Jan. 20.
Look for Chinyelu and Condon to bounce back from a limited effort on the boards against Ole Miss to overcome this Longhorns frontcourt that ranks among the best in the conference in limiting opportunities on the glass.
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
