No. 18 Florida vs. No. 5 Connecticut
* What: Orange Bowl Classic
* When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Amerant Bank Arena / Sunrise, Fla.
* Records: Florida (5-4) / George Washington (8-3)
* Series/Last meeting: Tied 2-2. GW defeated UF 82-77 in the quarterfinals of the 2016
The National Invitational Tournament in Washington, D.C., was originally slated for the O'Connell Center, but renovations that began a week earlier forced the game to be moved. Forward Tyler Cavanaugh delivered 18 of his 23 points in the final 10 1/2 minutes, while center Kevin Larsen added 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Colonials (their nickname at the time). They faced a UF frontcourt missing 6-11, 255-pound center John Egbunu, who had undergone season-ending hand surgery just days before.
Cavanaugh scored eight points in the last 92 seconds, including a clutch 3-pointer with 53 seconds left as the shot clock expired, turning a one-point contest into a two-possession game. He then sank four free throws in the final 16 seconds to secure the win and close out Coach
Mike White’s first season at Florida with a 21-15 record. Freshman guard
KeVaughn Allen led the Gators
with 22 points.
- * TV: ESPN2 (Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list
(with Sean Kelley, Patric Young and Steve Egan)
* Ticket info
Projected Starters
UF junior center Rueben Chinyelu (9)
| Florida | Position | Height / Weight | Class | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Condon | F | 6-11 / 230 | Junior | 15.0 pts / 9.0 reb |
| Rueben Chinyelu | C | 6-10 / 255 | Junior | 10.0 pts / 11.2 reb |
| Thomas Haugh | F | 6-9 / 215 | Junior | 18.6 pts / 7.0 reb |
| Xaivian Lee | G | 6-4 / 185 | Senior | 9.6 pts / 4.9 reb / 3.8ast |
| Boogie Fland | G | 6-3 / 185 | Sophomore | 12.0 pts / 2.1 reb |
| George Washington | Position | Height / Weight | Class | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrone Marshall Jr. | F | 6-8 / 215 | Graduate | 7.9 pts / 4.9 reb |
| Rafael Castro | C | 6-11 / 220 | R-Senior | 15.5 pts / 7.5 reb |
| Trey Autry | G | 6-4 / 210 | Junior | 9.0 pts / 3.2 reb |
| Christian Jones | G | 6-4 / 200 | R-Sophomore | 10.7 pts / 2.5 reb / 2.9 ast |
| Bubu Benjamin | G | 6-7 / 220 | Junior | 9.5 pts / 3.3 reb |
The Setup
No. 18 Florida and George Washington will square off in the Orange Bowl Classic, a double-header staged annually by the bowl committee, with UF and Florida State now appearing in the event every other year. The Gators participated in the OBC nearly every season from 1997 to 2019, missing only two, but this marks their first trip to South Florida — and second under Coach Todd Golden — since defeating Richmond there in 2023.
This contest concludes a demanding stretch of five straight road games for the Gators, a run that included a split in San Diego, followed by setbacks at No. 4 Duke and, most recently, against No. 5 Connecticut at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The team’s four losses already equal the total from last season’s march to the 2025 NCAA championship, though the pre-Southeastern Conference slate has been far more challenging, highlighted by a season-opening defeat in Las Vegas against Arizona, now ranked No. 1 nationally.
UF holds a 19-4 all-time record in the Orange Bowl Classic. George Washington opened the season with eight wins in its first 10 outings but stumbled in a 70-58 home loss to Delaware on Wednesday night. In the day’s first game, FSU will meet Massachusetts at noon.
Tale of the Tape
Alex Condon (center) jumping and on the defensive Tuesday vs. UConn
| Florida | Statistics | George Washington |
|---|---|---|
| 82.2 | Scoring | 88.3 |
| 0.431 | Field-goal percentage | 0.491 |
| 0.273 | 3-point percentage | 0.351 |
| 72.4 | Scoring defense | 75.2 |
| 0.4 | Field-goal percentage defense | 0.445 |
| 0.28 | 3-point percentage defense | 0.321 |
| 15th | KenPom.com overall ranking | 81st |
| 22nd | KenPom.com offensive efficiency | 47th |
| 11th | KenPom.com defensive efficiency | 154th |
| 42nd | KenPom.com adjusted tempo | 51st |
| 24th | NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking | 76th |
| 4th | Overall strength of schedule ranking | 294th |
The Breakdown
Florida senior guard Xaivian Lee (1)
About the Gators
UF enters this matchup as its biggest favorite since defeating Merrimack at home on Nov. 21. Still, GW represents the Gators’ eighth top-100 opponent in just 10 games, according to KenPom. The last time Florida faced as many as eight top-100 foes in non-conference play was during the 2017-18 season. The Gators are also the only team in the nation to have played three opponents currently ranked in the Associated Press top five.
Statistically, UF ranks No. 2 nationally in offensive rebound percentage (42.7), sits among the top 20 in defensive rebounding (24.4%), and is top 25 in defending the 3-point line (28.0%). Unfortunately, their own perimeter shooting has been even worse, with the team hitting just 27.3% from deep — ranking 344th out of 365 Division I programs and last among the 79 power-conference teams.
Thomas Haugh has shined against elite competition, averaging 23.0 points while shooting 57.5% from the field and 42.9% from three in games against Arizona, Duke, and UConn. Guard Xaivian Lee is coming off his best all-around performance as a Gator, posting 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and no turnovers. However, Lee went just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc and is shooting 20.3% from three this season (26.3% overall).
Point guard Boogie Fland, also struggling with his shot (39% overall, 23% from three), was limited to six first-half minutes against UConn due to foul trouble. He finished with eight points, one rebound, and one assist, but was the only UF player to record a positive plus-minus (+4). The Gators outscored the Huskies by nine when Fland was on the floor in the second half.
Alex Condon contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, coming up just one rebound shy of his fifth double-double of the season. Center Rueben Chinyelu pulled down 11 boards against UConn, marking his sixth double-digit rebounding effort in the last seven games.
About the Revolutionaries
The program retired the Colonials nickname in 2023, adopting Revolutionaries instead, explaining the previous name "glorified harmful history." Since then, GW has gone 44-33, maintaining the same 11-games-over-.500 mark across four seasons under Coach Chris Caputo, which included a trip to the NIT in 2024.
Competing in the Atlantic 10 Conference, GW boasts a top-50 offense, though it was absent in Wednesday’s 70-58 home loss to Delaware, which entered ranked 279th in KenPom. The Revs shoot just under 60% from two-point range and are eight percentage points better than the Gators from three (35.1%).
Center Rafael Castro is shooting 65% from the field and has attempted 82 free throws, converting nearly 71%. He has yet to take a three-pointer, so the UF bigs know where he’ll be positioned. Earlier this season, he grabbed 15 rebounds in a single game.
Point guard Christian Jones is a ball-dominant attacker, hitting 59% from two and 33% from deep. Backup guard Trey Autry has been efficient inside, making 12 of 18 shots (67%), but has taken more than twice as many attempts from beyond the arc, where he’s 18-for-44 (40.9%). That’s nearly four percentage points higher than UF’s best three-point shooter, backup guard Urban Klavzar (36.7%). Autry connected on four threes in the loss to Delaware.
Numbers of Note
From left: Scottie Lewis, Omar Payne, Keyontae Johnson, Noah Locke and Andrew Nembhard during UF's last loss in the Orange Bowl Classic (and one of only four during their 23 appearances), a 65-62 setback against Utah State on Dec. 21, 2019.
4 — Florida’s all-time defeats in the Orange Bowl Classic. The Gators dropped the inaugural OBC to Alabama-Birmingham in 1997, during Billy Donovan’s second season. They then rattled off nine straight wins, skipping the 2005 event, before falling to Richmond 56-53 in 2009, also under Donovan. Seven more consecutive victories followed until a loss to Clemson under Mike White in 2017, and another setback against Utah State in 2019. UF has since won two straight — the first with White still at the helm in ’21, and the second under Golden two years ago.
2014 — The last time a defending NCAA champion opened its season with four losses in the first nine games. That team was UConn, which went on to finish 20-15, missed the NCAA Tournament, and exited in the first round of the NIT.
13,000 — The estimated number of miles the Gators will have logged during their non-conference schedule once this trip to South Florida is complete. UF has already traveled to Las Vegas, San Diego, Durham, North Carolina, and New York.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
