Gainesville, Fla. – Defensive Focus Defines Gators’ Path. The Florida Gators boast one of the nation’s most dynamic offenses, but it’s their defensive growth that has elevated them into championship contention during the 2024-25 season.
That defensive edge faltered briefly on Tuesday in Athens. For about twelve minutes, Georgia capitalized, hitting 15 of their first 20 attempts—including five from beyond the arc—and surged to a 26-point advantage. On the road in the SEC, that kind of gap is nearly impossible to overcome.
Florida clawed back, even taking a two-point lead in the final minute, but the Bulldogs executed the decisive plays down the stretch.
"Being down 12, 15, 17, that's going to happen in this league," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "But you can't be down twenty-freaking-six. You just can't"
One defensive stop could have flipped the outcome into a historic win. Instead, the Gators’ six-game streak ended abruptly—a setback Golden hopes will resonate as they enter March. For a team with championship ambitions, twelve poor minutes cannot define the month or the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg weighed in:
"[Florida] is too good to play the first 10 or 15 minutes the way they did the other [night]. That's not the essence of who they are, and as a coach that had to be frustrating," Greenberg said Friday. "On the other hand, when they're good, man, they are good."
Greenberg’s presence in Gainesville underscores the team’s stature. ESPN's popular "College GameDay" show Saturday’s SEC clash between No. 3 Florida (24-4, 11-4) and No. 12 Texas A&M (20-8, 9-6) as its featured matchup, broadcasting live from Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center from 10 a.m. to noon.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
ESPN revealed last week that the show would return to UF for the first time since 2017. Days later, the Gators dropped their first game since Feb. 1 in Athens. To rebound, they’ll need to impose themselves against the Aggies, a team known for toughness and defense.
"They've got to understand that [defense] has to be a constant," Greenberg said after observing Friday’s practice with "GameDay" colleagues Rece Davis and Jay Williams. "You can't spot people and then play from behind in the NCAA Tournament because the pressure changes. These are just games. The NCAA Tournament, if you don't get stops early and [teams] gain confidence and you're a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, you have a whole arena rooting against you and it sucks the life out of you. … I'm sure that's a point of emphasis. They're too good."
The message was clear, and practice reflected it. Thursday’s session was intense, physical, and designed to reset the team’s defensive mindset.
Led by three seniors, Florida understands the stakes.
After scoring 30 points in Tuesday’s loss, senior guard Will Richard said: "We'll respond real good. It was a wake-up call. Won't happen again."
While some may dismiss those twelve minutes in Athens as an anomaly, others point to Missouri’s earlier visit to the O’Dome, where hot shooting built a 19-point halftime lead and handed UF its only home defeat, 83-82.
Mistakes can be valuable lessons—so long as they’re corrected before the third week of March.
Sophomore forward Alex Condon (left), who returned after missing two weeks with an ankle sprain, and the Gators need to band together and get back to the 40-minute mentality they (mostly) displayed during a six-game win streak that ended Tuesday night at Georgia.
The Gators were juggling lineup changes once again in Athens. Forward Alex Condon rejoined the rotation after missing four games with an ankle injury. His 21 minutes were spent shaking off two weeks of inactivity, while also sharing the floor with 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten for the first time in nearly a year. Handlogten had previously been working with the scout team before choosing to play instead of redshirting. Chemistry takes time, and both players are still building rhythm through repetitions.
Condon managed nine points and three rebounds despite shooting just 1-for-7, and he left the game needing dental work after taking an elbow to the mouth. He’ll wear a mouthpiece for the first time on Saturday—an important adjustment against a Texas A&M squad that leads the nation in offensive rebounding. Florida will need him closer to the form he showed before the injury, when he averaged 11 points and a team-best eight boards.
"I think we do a good job of rising to physical challenges," Golden said.
For a team eyeing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, this matchup is critical. The same high-stakes scenario will repeat in the final two regular-season contests—at No. 6 Alabama on Wednesday and then at home against Ole Miss—before continuing into the SEC Tournament in Nashville. From there, the margin for error disappears.
"It's important to finish the right way," Condon said.
Golden remains confident in his group.
"We have a really good team," he said. "You've got to be able to deal with some adversity and trust what this team has shown over the last 28 games. I'm still thrilled to be the coach of this team. I think this team has a chance to have a great end of the year, and I'd still feel that way even if we don't win [Saturday]. I think we've done enough to prove to ourselves that we have a chance to play deep into March."
And what better way to launch a March run than being featured at the center of college basketball’s spotlight on the first day of the month? Florida wants to prove it belongs there.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
