UF guard Xaivian Lee (1) nails one of his four 3-pointers on his way to 20 points.
SAN DIEGO – Florida led by five early in the second half Friday when point guard Boogie Fland, positioned on the baseline, pitched the ball to backcourt mate Xaivian Lee at the top of the key.
Lee, the Princeton transfer mired in a nightmarish early season shooting slump that now spanned both ends of the continent, faced up his defender, Providence's Stefan Vaaks, then executed a dribble jab-step that turned the Friars guard's lower extremities into a pretzel. Vaks, his ankles broken, went spilling backward to the floor – touching off an "Ooooooooh" from the Jenny Craig Pavilion crowd – and leaving Lee all the time needed to set his feet and cooly drain a timely 3-pointer as if he was shooting a free throw.
And as if the lid coming off at that time wasn't relief enough, Lee followed that 3-ball with another just 20 seconds later.
"Maybe that was the moment I needed to get me going," Lee said.
And wouldn't that be nice – more like a godsend – for the Gators, who rode Lee's game-high 20 points (all but three coming after halftime) and four 3-pointers to a 90-78 defeat of the Friars in the consolation game of the Rady's Children Invitational. Lee, who boarded the flight to California earlier in the week shooting 22.6% overall and 15.8% from the arc, hit seven of his 16 shots, four of nine from deep and both his free throws while also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing a team-best four assists over a team-high 36 minutes.
Quite a contrast from the previous four games when Lee combined to make four of 29 shots and two of 23 from the arc.
His Pennsylvania prep school and current teammate Thomas Haugh put it this way: "He's back."
UF coach Todd Golden expanded on the performance afterward.
"He stayed the course," Golden said. "To his credit, he looked like the guy we expected when he joined us in the summer and what we've seen in practice and in one of our scrimmages. Our guard play was really good today."
And it certainly was. Xaivian Lee teamed up with Boogie Fland and backup Urban Klavzar to produce 55 points and 11 made 3-pointers. Fland, the transfer from Arkansas, delivered his best scoring game as a Gator with 17 points and four triples. Klavzar, who had led the team with 20 points in the tough loss to Texas Christian in the tournament’s opening round, added 18 off the bench.
It was a welcome sight for a backcourt that had struggled offensively early in the season, especially with the UF frontcourt missing forward Alex Condon, who was held out for precautionary reasons after taking a hit to the head in the TCU game. Even so, Thomas Haugh, the junior wing, contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, while center Rueben Chinyelu matched that double-double with his fourth in five games, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior center Micah Handlogten, starting in place of Condon, didn’t score but chipped in six rebounds and three assists.
The Gators shot 42.4% overall, but their 12 made 3-pointers marked a season high and matched half of what PC hit while shooting 43.4%. Florida also converted 22 of 27 free throws (81.5%).
All of it set the stage for a much smoother flight home after the disappointment of blowing a 10-point second-half lead the day before, largely due to 19 costly turnovers.
"We felt like we left one on the table [Thursday]," Golden said of the loss. "But I'm really pleased with the way we took care of the basketball [against Providence]."
Early on, though, it didn’t look that way. The Gators committed four turnovers in the first four minutes.
From that point forward, however, they gave it away just four more times over the final 36 minutes.
"It's everything," Fland said. "Got to take care of the ball, man."
Xaivian Lee (1) on the move against the Friars on his way to a season-high 20 points.
The Gators carried a 45-39 lead into halftime. Providence opened the second half with a free throw just 30 seconds in, trimming the margin to five.
That’s when Xaivian Lee, who had only three points at the break, came alive. He shook Vaaks with the first of back-to-back 3-pointers, then buried the second to extend the UF lead to 11. His energy and confidence shifted instantly, and the Gators bench erupted in support. Lee would later add another 3-pointer to his tally.
"I've been in a dark place just trying to figure it out," said Lee, who shot 46.2% overall and 35.2% from 3-point range across his last two seasons as a first-team All-Ivy League guard. "Honestly, I've just been trying to focus on my process and not get too result-oriented. Basketball means everything to me. I see what everyone says – and I'm my own biggest critic, anyways – so it's been rough for me. But my teammates love me, my coaches love me and that's all that really matters. I've just been trying to focus on the next game and my next moment to try and break out."
Providence (4-3) cut the UF lead back to 51-47 with about 16 minutes remaining, but Lee answered with a short pull-up jumper. Moments later, he fired a cross-court pass to Boogie Fland for a 3-pointer that forced the Friars to call timeout. Out of the stoppage, Fland drained another 3, followed by Lee’s offensive rebound and putback that pushed the lead to 14.
The margin eventually swelled to 19 with just under eight minutes left, and the Gators cruised to the finish line from there.
Urban Klavzar (right) is fired up for teammate Xaivian Lee (left) late in Friday's win.
"We just did a good job of playing team, systematic basketball," Golden said. "Again, a huge part of that was our ability to take care of the ball."
Still, Xaivian Lee’s breakout performance loomed just as large, especially with Tuesday’s upcoming trip to No. 4 and unbeaten Duke, followed a week later by a matchup against No. 5 and unbeaten Connecticut at Madison Square Garden.
"When he's able to give us offensive punch like he did today, we're a different team," Golden said of Lee. "It obviously raises our ceiling quite a bit."
It also lifted the Gators’ overall energy. Lee had been waiting for a moment like this, and so had his teammates. When it finally came, the entire group fed off it together.
"We played with joy out there. That's what we've been trying to do, but saying we're going to do it and actually doing it are two different things," Lee said. "I think it just makes us play really well when we're having a good time and not thinking too much. Just hooping."
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
