Gators Condon, Haugh Proving One of Best Duos in SEC

Gainesville, Fla. – Roughly two years ago, Florida Gators men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden signed Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon. Both were three stars and were almost afterthoughts to most programs.

The initial evaluation and continued progression of Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh cannot be overstated. Absolutely ELITE work by Todd Golden and his staff. They were monumental in todays win against #1 Auburn on the road.
— CONNER (@ConnerClarke) February 8, 2025

However, fast forward to the present, and the pairing of Condon and Haugh have become the best duo in the SEC, according to Evan Miyakawa’s analytics shared on X (formerly Twitter).

When these two are on the court this season, the Gators observed offensive efficiency is 129.1 and observed defensive efficiency is 93.6, which is a margin of 35.5. Furthermore, the gap between them and the second lineup is bigger than the gap from second to fourth.

And, if you needed any more evidence of how good this pair is, just take a look at their stats against Auburn. Condon logged his fourth double-double in SEC play, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Although he did more than just score and rebound, he also had four assists to go along with these other numbers.

The big man from Perth, Australia was a key component on defense as well. He was tasked with guarding the potential Wooden Award winner – an award given to the most outstanding basketball player – Johni Broome and held him in check for most of the game. Broome was just 3-for-9 in the first half and only managed three rebounds. Moreover, he didn’t really start pouring in the points until the final 10 minutes of this game, scoring nine of his 18 during that span.

As for Haugh, Miyakawa’s analytics love Haugh. His stat’s have him as one of the best sixth men in the country and one of the best “glue guys” as well and the eye test really backs this up.

Haugh finds himself on this list multiple times, just with new partners in crime each time. While his matching with Condon leads the way, he also shares strong lineups when he and Will Richard and when he and Alijah Martin are on the floor.

Martin was absent for the win over Auburn, but that didn’t change much for Haugh. He still ended with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal in 28 minutes off the bench. It’s hard to have more of an impact than he did off the bench against the No. 1 team in the country and on the road.

And if there was one play that you had to choose as evidence for Haugh to show those that missed the game, that play would be late in the second when he earned his team another possession that led to three points.

With the momentum overwhelmingly in favor of Auburn, as they cut down the Gators' lead from 21 to nine, Haugh was able to calm things down thanks to his tenacious effort on the glass. Off of a missed shot from Clayton Jr., he soared in for the offensive rebound, punching it out to Denzel Aberdeen, who immediately knocked down the three to put their back to double-digits.

There’s no guarantee that the Gators would have lost this game if he didn’t make this play, but at the same time, his effort at that moment was able to calm things down for his team.

With these two playing the way they are this season, it’s hard to see where the ceiling is for this Gators team. They may have had a rough loss to Tennessee not too long ago, but they also just helped secure arguably the biggest win of the season by any team in the country.