Florida Wraps Up Non-Conference Play with a Win-and a Warning Sign
Florida closed out its non-conference slate Monday night with a 94-72 win over Dartmouth, a game that looked like a blowout on paper but left plenty of questions on the court. The Gators jumped out to a dominant first-half lead, building a 26-point cushion before halftime, but the second half was a different story-sloppy execution, defensive lapses, and a recurring turnover problem that just won’t go away.
Yes, Florida won by 22. Yes, the talent gap between an SEC contender and an Ivy League squad was obvious. But if this game was supposed to be a tune-up before conference play, it felt more like a reminder that this team still has some tightening up to do.
A Tale of Two Halves
The opening 20 minutes were exactly what you’d expect from a team with Florida’s size and athleticism. The Gators bullied Dartmouth on the boards, dominating the glass 37-9 before the break and finishing with a 60-24 edge overall. That kind of rebounding disparity doesn’t just happen-it’s a product of physicality, positioning, and effort, and Florida’s frontcourt brought all three.
Alex Condon led the way with 17 points, continuing to be a focal point of the offense. Rueben Chinyelu added another double-double to his growing résumé with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Micah Handlogten nearly joined him, falling just two points shy off the bench. The Gators built their lead methodically, going up by double digits just over three minutes in and never looking back.
But the second half? That’s where the red flags started to wave.
Dartmouth outscored Florida 45-41 after halftime, and while the game was never truly in doubt, the Gators looked like a team that had mentally checked out. Defensive rotations were late, transition defense was porous, and the perimeter was left wide open far too often.
Florida’s ongoing issues defending the three-point line reared their head again, and it’s something head coach Todd Golden has previously chalked up to a calculated risk. But at some point, that strategy has to be re-evaluated-especially with SEC play looming.
Turnovers Still Haunting the Gators
If there’s one stat that continues to drag this team down, it’s turnovers. Florida coughed it up 12 times to Dartmouth’s 10, and at least half of those giveaways were completely avoidable-lazy passes, miscommunication, and ball-handling lapses that had little to do with Dartmouth’s defensive pressure.
Condon, for all his offensive production, had four turnovers and now leads the team with 33 on the season. That wouldn’t be as concerning if he weren’t also one of the team’s primary facilitators, but with 44 assists on the year-second only to Xaivian Lee’s 45-he’s handling the ball a lot. His 1.33 assist-to-turnover ratio is something to monitor, especially as the level of competition ramps up.
The silver lining? Florida only turned it over four times in the second half.
But that improvement on offense didn’t translate to the other end. The defense sagged, the energy dipped, and Dartmouth took advantage, going on an 11-3 run in the final five minutes.
The starters were still on the floor, which makes that stretch even more concerning. Fatigue or not, that kind of finish won’t cut it in the SEC.
Frontcourt Dominance, but Inconsistency Elsewhere
Florida’s bigs did what they were supposed to do-control the paint, crash the glass, and wear down a smaller opponent. But elsewhere, the performance was a mixed bag.
Thomas Haugh had an off night, shooting just 3-for-9 from the field. The backcourt duo of Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee combined for 22 points on an efficient 10-for-19 shooting, but they weren’t particularly aggressive from deep. In fact, the Gators as a whole dialed back their three-point attempts in the second half, which helped inflate the overall field goal percentage but didn’t do much to stretch the defense.
That’s been a theme for Florida lately-an offense that can look fluid and explosive in spurts, but also one that struggles to maintain rhythm when the threes aren’t falling or the pace slows down.
Time to Flip the Switch
Florida’s non-conference schedule was designed to be more challenging this year, and it was. Opening against Arizona was a tough draw, and the loss to TCU at the Rady Children’s Invitational stung-not just because of the result, but because it cost the Gators a shot at a quality matchup against Wisconsin in the next round.
There were bright spots, like the win over Miami that seemed to spark a turnaround, and the stretch against Duke, UConn, and GWU showed this team can hang with high-level competition. But following that up with three straight Quadrant 4 games? That’s not exactly ideal preparation for the SEC gauntlet.
The good news? Conference play is here.
And with it comes a steady diet of NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. Florida opens on the road at Missouri, a manageable way to ease into the grind, but things ramp up quickly after that-Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt are all waiting.
If Florida wants to make noise in March, the time to clean up the turnovers, tighten the defense, and find consistency from beyond the arc is now. The Gators have the size, the depth, and the talent. But they’ll need sharper execution and a whole lot more focus if they want to turn potential into postseason success.