No. 23 Florida vs. Saint Francis

• When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. (ET)
• Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
• Records: Florida (6-4) / Saint Francis (2-9)
• Series/Last meeting: This marks the first-ever matchup between the two programs.
• TV: SEC Network with coverage by Rich Hollenberg and Patric Young
• Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list (featuring Sean Kelley and Steve Egan)
• Ticket info
  

Projected Starters

The Setup 

No. 23 Florida and Saint Francis face off in the Gators’ first home appearance since Nov. 21, beginning a stretch of three consecutive O’Dome matchups against low-major opponents during the holiday period. UF, which dropped five spots (from 18th) in this week’s Associated Press poll, enters the contest after Saturday’s 80-70 victory over George Washington in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Florida. The Gators will play one additional home game before heading into Christmas break. The Red Flash most recently competed Sunday night, falling 95-67 at Temple.

Tale of the Tape

The Breakdown

About the Gators: 

Florida has climbed back into the nation’s top-10 defensively, but their struggles from beyond the arc remain evident — just 6-for-27 in the win over GW — dragging down offensive efficiency. This comes despite an impressive 77.7% shooting performance inside the arc (21 of 27) and ranking as the country’s fourth-best offensive rebounding team (42.1%). … Guard Xaivian Lee, after a puzzling eight-game start to his UF career, has now delivered consecutive KenPom MVP outings, highlighted by his Orange Bowl Classic MVP showing with 24 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 35 minutes. That effort followed a 19-point performance in the loss to Connecticut in New York City. The staff believes the Princeton transfer may have finally turned the corner. … Point guard Boogie Fland went scoreless in the first half against the Revolutionaries, missing all four of his shots, but rebounded to finish with 12 points and five assists without attempting another 3-pointer. For the season, Fland is 10-for-47 from deep (21.3%) but 55.8% from two-point range. … Forward Alex Condon managed just five points on five attempts (including 1-for-6 at the free-throw line), though he contributed nine rebounds and seven assists. … Center Rueben Chinyelu leads the SEC in rebounding at 10.7 per game, with Condon ranking third at 9.0. … Thomas Haugh sits fourth in the conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game, shooting 49.2% from the field and 33.9% from three. … Expect Coach Todd Golden to use this stretch of lighter competition to give extended minutes to bench players, aiming to build depth before SEC play begins Jan. 3 at Missouri. The Gators have been outscored 49-24 in bench points over their last three games, including 21-2 against GW. Backup guard Isaiah Brown, returning after three games, chipped in four points and three rebounds in four solid minutes, but none of UF’s four reserves posted a positive plus-minus, combining for a minus-19 overall.

About the Red Flash: 

This matchup could be one of the most lopsided in O’Dome history, against a team that reached the NCAA Tournament just last season. Saint Francis, located in Loretto, Pennsylvania, captured the 2025 Northeast Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA First Four, where they lost at the buzzer to Alabama State. The program has already announced plans to move to Division II beginning in 2026-27. … According to KenPom, the Red Flash rank fourth from the bottom among the nation’s 365 Division I teams in overall efficiency. Their nine defeats have come by an average margin of 25.8 points, with only one against a high-major opponent — Oklahoma, which won by 36. Their two victories came against Franciscan (Division III) and Penn St. Shenango (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). … The team’s standout, guard Skylar Wicks, is playing at his fifth school in five seasons, having previously spent time at Texas-San Antonio, Incarnate Word, State College of Florida, and Missouri State before arriving in NYC. He’s shooting 42.4% overall and 40% from three (22-for-55). … Point guard Zion Russell is the only other Red Flash player averaging double figures.

Numbers of Note