Florida Survives Florida State Behind Second-Half Heroics from Haugh, Fland

The Florida Gators have now won five-straight over in-state rival Florida State with the 78-76 win.

Florida Gators forward Thomas Haugh had 20 points with 13 rebounds. | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators needed nearly every second in Tuesday’s matchup with rival Florida State.

Florida, holding on to a 74-70 lead after an Urban Klavzar 3-pointer, nearly saw its lead erased as Florida State guard Robert McCray scored with 49 seconds left to make it a two-point game and was fouled on the ensuing possession with 17 seconds left.

However, he missed his second free throw, and Florida’s Boogie Fland hit a pair of free throws to give Florida a 76-73 lead with 15 seconds left. After calling a timeout with 10 seconds left, Florida State missed a quick 3-pointer out of the break, and a pair of free throws from Alex Condon sealed the win.

A 3-pointer from Florida State with less than five seconds left finalized the scoring as Florida won 78-76, marking its fifth-straight win over the Seminoles.

10 seconds left and FSU misses the game-tying 3-pointer.

Alex Condon hits a pair of free throws after. #Gators lead 78-73 pic.twitter.com/2XrVoyB1XP

— Cam Parker (@camparker25) November 12, 2025

The Gators turned a 40-37 halftime deficit into a 66-57 lead with 8:37 left in the game.

Thomas Haugh and Fland sparked Florida in the second half as Haugh hit a 3-pointer with 16:44 left in the game, ending a 3-point drought for the Gators that included 11-straight misses and making it a two-point game.

Three minutes later, Fland hit his first 3-pointer as a Gator before adding a free throw on the next possession, and Haugh added a pair of buckets as the Gators took a 59-57 lead. Fland added another bucket and his second 3-pointer before Xaivian Lee scored to give Florida a nine-point lead.

Florida State gave Florida a scare late with a 6-0 run starting from the three-minute mark to make it a one-point game with 1:24 left. The Gators missed seven of their last eight shots to that point until Klavzar's 3-pointer to give Florida a 74-70 lead.

urbie for threee 👌

📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/YofOZlXZEu

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) November 12, 2025

Haugh recorded his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Rueben Chinyelu had his first double-double since last season’s SEC Tournament with a 10-point, 16-rebound effort, setting a new career-high for rebounds..

Fland finished with 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

The turnaround erased a rough first half for Florida that saw the Gators shoot just 2-for-14 from beyond the arc, including its last nine attempts in the half, and turned the ball over 11 times.

Lee finished shooting 1-for-10 from 3-point territory, while Condon had six of Florida's 18 turnovers.

Next Up

Florida (2-1) travels to Jacksonville on Sunday to face another in-state rival in Miami for the Jacksonville Hoops Showdown. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN.