UF point guard Boogie Fland is averaging 15.0 points over the last three games.
NEW YORK – His coach was just a half-second from calling a timeout. A half-second too late, as it turned out.
Florida point guard Boogie Fland had dribbled toward the sideline in front of his team’s bench, only to be locked up by Duke counterpart Caleb Foster. The ball was knocked loose, and Fland fouled Foster with two seconds remaining, the Gators trailing by a single point.
That’s how it ended—a 67-66 defeat at storied Cameron Indoor Stadium that, with one more play, might just as easily have gone UF’s way. Instead, the Gators were left to absorb a crushing loss, with Fland taking it especially hard after sparking a rally from 15 down by scoring nine of his 16 points in the final four minutes, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left.
How long did it take to move past it?
"Two days," Fland said. "Can't lie."
It’s now been five days since those “two days,” giving Fland and his teammates plenty of time to move past that setback and focus on the next challenge. And it’s a big one. On Tuesday night, the 18th-ranked Gators (5-3) will take on fifth-ranked Connecticut (8-1) in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, the legendary venue just a short distance from where Fland grew up in The Bronx.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound sophomore isn’t exactly sure how far MSG is from Archbishop Stepinac, where he starred and captured a prestigious Catholic High School Athletic Association title during his McDonald’s All-America prep career, but he knows he can make the trip in about 35 minutes depending on traffic—and he’s familiar with the shortcuts.
There won’t be any shortcuts this time, though. Not against the Huskies and fiery coach Dan Hurley, who are expected to be especially motivated after the Gators ended their two-year national-championship run last March with a 77-75 win in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at Raleigh, North Carolina. The crowd at MSG will be overwhelmingly pro-UConn, but the reigning champs, having already faced hostile environments against Arizona in Las Vegas and Duke at Cameron, know what to expect.
"I'm sure they feel like they owe us something," UF coach Todd Golden said of the Huskies and their fans.
UConn can take comfort in knowing that Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard won’t be on the floor this time. That senior trio carried much of the load in last spring’s upset. On that day, Fland was in Providence, Rhode Island, with his Arkansas teammates making their own run to the Sweet 16. He had missed the 15 games leading up to the tournament while recovering from midseason hand surgery, but before the injury he averaged 15.6 points and 5.7 assists, highlighted by a 20-point, seven-assist, two-steal performance in a win over Michigan at the 2024 Jimmy V Classic.
This will mark Fland’s second appearance at MSG, but for a point guard raised on the playgrounds of New York City—where legends like Bob Cousy, Dick McGuire, Tiny Archibald, Pearl Washington, Rod Strickland, Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury, and Kemba Walker honed their craft—playing at one of the sport’s ultimate stages is never taken for granted.
The last true NYC point guard for the Gators was Erving Walker (2008-12), who came out of Brooklyn and graduated as the program’s all-time leader in assists, second in career games, and fifth in scoring.
Walker, however, never had the chance to play under the Broadway lights. Fland will—and he’ll have about 200 family and friends in attendance to cheer him on.
"It's very special. My first time was like no [other] experience and I expect this one to be the same," said Fland, who plans to draw on last year’s MSG debut to prepare for this outing. "You have to stay in the moment. You play basketball your whole life, [so] you just got to keep going with it."
That will be the mission for the Gators, who aim to build on the momentum they showed in the second half against Duke seven nights earlier—arguably their best 20 minutes of basketball so far this season. In that stretch, they shot 47%, limited the Blue Devils to 38%, dominated the boards 22-15, and outscored them 42-31.
The only thing UF failed to do was finish the job. The chance was there, with Golden regretting not calling a late timeout and Fland lamenting the turnover that sealed the outcome.
"Holistically, and on a macro level, I think the second half was something that he can really build on, and we as a team can, so I don't think we're focusing too much on that last play," Golden said. "It stings enough losing the game. More focusing on the positives."
Boogie Fland (left) had his mid-range pull-up game working at Duke last week on his way to 16 points on 7-for-16 from the floor.
Fland closed with 16 points, three steals, four turnovers, and no assists, but carried the offense late by hitting four key baskets: two smooth mid-range jumpers, a strong drive down the lane, and a clutch 3-pointer that briefly gave the Gators the lead. He found himself in a rhythm at the right time.
"Boogie really stepped up when we needed him," junior wing Thomas Haugh said.
Added Fland: "Just trying to control the game."
This time, he’ll be tasked with doing so against a determined opponent boasting twice UF’s championship pedigree over the past three seasons. It’s a massive matchup, but still only the ninth game of the year for this team. Whatever identity the Gators ultimately form is still taking shape, with Fland largely directing the show.
"Go back and watch the film of the new guys last year. When they started getting cooking was more kind of the end of December, before they really started getting really comfortable," Golden said. "And I think that half in that [Duke] environment says a lot about the ceiling that he can play with."
Fland has yet to fully reach that ceiling and likely replayed the ending of the last game in his mind. Now, he gets a chance to bounce back—on the biggest stage, in the city that never sleeps.
His city.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
