Todd Golden Questions Inbounds Call in Gators' Loss to UConn

Sitting at 5-4, the Florida Gators have already matched its loss total from last season.

The Florida Gators lost another heartbreaker with a 77-73 defeat to UConn. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

NEW YORK-- Just nine games into the 2025-26 season, the Florida Gators have already matched its loss total from last year's national championship season with a 5-4 start. The latest loss, a 77-73 defeat to No. 5 UConn in the Jimmy V Classic, saw another tight game slip away in the final seconds.

Trailing by seven with less than a minute left, the Gators chipped away to make it a three-point game with nine seconds left. Forcing a turnover, Florida would have one final opportunity to send the game into overtime.

However, Boogie Fland never inbounded the ball.

Seeing all options covered up and with no timeouts, Florida was called for a five-second violation, and UConn took home the win.

"I thought they called it early, man, to be honest," head coach Todd Golden said. "I challenge everybody to time it and see what they come up with. We timed it in the locker room, and we got 4.6 and 4.7."

The call was the latest to not go Florida's way in a close game after a controversial no-call on a goaltend and a flagrant on Thomas Haugh in the one-point loss to Duke. While frustrated, Golden emphasized both before and after the game that Florida had opportunities to win close games earlier.

Still, the game-sealing call hurts.

"In a moment like that -- I've been around the game for a long time, to get a call like that where it doesn't even get to 5 seconds -- usually they give you an extra second, to be honest," he said. "Just a really, really tough pill to swallow.

"At the same time, we've got to do a better job getting available earlier. I just thought that was banged a little early."

Tuesday's loss also had plenty of the same issues that have plagued Florida throughout the season.

The Gators shot just 4-for-15 from deep, including a 1-for-7 mark by Xaivian Lee, shot just 70 percent (19-for-27) from the free throw line and were in foul trouble early with Boogie Fland having three in the first 12 minutes.

However, the game was also the latest example of how dangerous Florida can be if the chips fall in the right place.

Lee, struggling to consistently score this season, led Florida with 19 points with Alex Condon and Haugh adding 17 and 18. Rebounding continues to be a strength with the Gators, headlined by Rueben Chinyelu's 11, outrebounding UConn 40-28, 16 of which came on the offensive end.

Florida also continued to fight through tough stretches, erasing a 10-point deficit to the Huskies and nearly erasing the seven-point deficit in the last minute.

The other benefit is Florida, while sitting just one game over .500, are through arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in college basketball. The Gators won't play another major opponent until SEC play opens on Jan. 3 at Missouri and won't play a currently ranked opponent until No. 20 Tennessee on Jan. 10.

None of Florida's upcoming opponents are currently ranked inside the top 10, giving Florida plenty of opportunities to move past its rough non-conference performance in its chase for another run in the NCAA Tournament.

"I'm a pretty positive guy. We're close. We're right there," Golden said. "If we can get 5 percent better over the next couple weeks, we're going to be pretty good in SEC play."