Gators Bite Bulldogs, Take Home Big Win Over Georgia

Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee combined for 31 points, while Rueben Chinyelu had another 20-rebound game in the Gators' big win.

The Florida Gators defeated Georgia, 86-66, on Wednesday. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATHENS, Ga.-- The 14th-ranked Florida Gators on Wednesday continued its SEC dominance with an 86-66 win at Georgia, marking its third-straight win, all of which have come by at least 19 points, and fifth-straight road win.

Guard duo Xaivian Lee (18 points, seven assists) and Boogie Fland (15 points) combined for 31 points, while Isaiah Brown scored 12 points off the bench with a career-high three 3-pointers. Lee added three of his own as the Gators shot 10-for-26 from beyond the arc, marking its most makes from deep in a game since the 102-61 win over Saint Francis on Dec. 17.

“We collectively, as a staff and as a program, think of our 3-point shooting as a cherry on top," head coach Todd Golden said. "We don't want that to be what makes us good or what we rely upon to be a good team. We want it to be a thing where if we are shooting the ball well, that we're just really, really hard to beat."

Early stops led to quick opportunities for the Gators to build a lead, with Lee and Brown headlining the efforts in the first half.

Georgia missed its first eight shots, going scoreless over the first five minutes of the game as the Gators took a 10-0 lead. Fland had six of Florida’s first 10 points before Urban Klavzar, Lee and Brown each hit 3-pointers to help the Gators take a 21-10 lead.

Xaivian with the steal 🤝 Boogie at the rim

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/2XBKHhksu4

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 12, 2026

Lee hit another near the nine-minute mark to give Florida a 26-12 lead, marking the fourth-straight 3-pointer for the Gators after starting 0-for-3. Lee had made just one of his last 14 3-point tries before hitting back-to-back deep shots.

He had a game-high 13 points in the first half with three assists and two steals.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had another big drought, going scoreless for over three minutes, while shooting 0-for-7 from the field, as the Gators took a 29-12 lead at the under-eight media timeout. Brown hit another 3-pointer to cap off the scoring during the stretch and hit another with 3:41 left to give the Gators a 36-19 lead.

Brown’s trio of 3-pointers in the first half set a new career-high for the sophomore for 3-point makes in a game.

Alex Condon, despite four turnovers in the first half, dominated down low early in the game with two blocks in the first 10 minutes of game time, while Rueben Chinyelu had his usual impact, recording 12 rebounds in the half.

Chinyelu finished the game with 20 rebounds, marking his fourth-straight game with double-digit rebounds and third 20-rebound effort, to go with seven points.

The Gators took a 43-27 lead into the break, holding Georgia to a season-low in first-half points, but that momentum quickly went away to start the second half.

Georgia quickly cut into the lead with a 7-0 run over the first 3:30 of the second half, headlined by a 3-pointer and free throws from Blue Cain, but the Gators silenced the Bulldogs just as fast with back-to-back 3-pointers from Thomas Haugh, who was playing in his 100th game as a Gator, and Klavzar.

Meanwhile, buckets from Chinyelu, Fland and Condon, and a 3-pointer from Fland pushed the lead to 22 with 11:32 left. Fland’s 3-pointer ended a drought of 17-straight misses from deep by the transfer and gave Florida a 60-38 lead.

Condon finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.

Georgia continued to fight back, though, even cutting the lead to 10 with 4:09 left, but another 3-pointer from Lee with 3:56 left and a jumper from Fland with 3:19 left pushed the lead to 15. The Gators made its last six shots to seal the win.

“He was great. He was one of the best players on the floor, clearly, tonight," Golden said of Lee. "I thought he did a great job just playing with poise, especially when Georgia tried to speed us up, taking care of the basketball, hit some really big threes – one early, two late – that kind of stymied a couple of their runs. I thought he played with really, really good poise all night.

Xaivian L33🔥

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/KUCHH1VzfZ

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 12, 2026

The Gators (18-6, 9-2 SEC) face another big rival on Saturday with a home game against No. 25 Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC), which also marks the first time Florida faces former guard Denzel Aberdeen. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. with television coverage on ABC.