In a game that marked the first time a reigning national champion lost its season opener in over two decades, third-ranked Florida fell 93-87 to #13 Arizona in the Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Thomas Haugh delivered a career-defining performance with 27 points—his first time leading the Gators in scoring—but it wasn’t enough to overcome Arizona’s potent duo of freshman Koa Peat (30 points) and senior Jaden Bradley (27 points). Haugh also set career highs with 12 free throws made on 14 attempts.
A Strong Start Unravels
The Gators came out firing, building a 12-point lead after hitting 11 of their first 16 shots. But their downfall came from beyond the arc, shooting just 7-27 from three-point range.
Florida also struggled with fundamentals that have been their calling card. Head Coach Todd Golden didn’t mince words: “You can’t send a team to line 38 times. A good team, any team, to line 38 times, and expect to give yourself a really good chance to win.”The Gators lost the rebounding battle by two and committed 15 turnovers, including nine in the second half.
Individual Performances
Micah Handlogten recorded his fifth career double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds—his first such performance since facing Missouri on February 28, 2024. However, the overall defensive effort from the frontcourt fell short of championship standards.
Transfer Xaivian Lee showed promise in his Florida debut with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while fellow newcomer Boogie Fland added nine points, four rebounds, three steals, and three assists. Alex Condon chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds. Despite the solid statistical contributions, the collective performance raised questions about whether these numbers translated into winning basketball.
Arizona’s Dominance
Arizona freshman Koa Peat was the difference-maker in his college debut, shooting 11 of 18 from the floor while adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He sealed the victory by hitting two free throws with 14.2 seconds remaining after being fouled on a defensive rebound.
Jaden Bradley complemented Peat perfectly, scoring 11 of Arizona’s final 18 points. Together, they became only the second pair of Arizona teammates in the past 30 seasons to each record 25 points and 5 assists in the same game.
Golden acknowledged Peat’s impact: “I thought [Koa] Peat was really the biggest one. I thought we did a great job on [Motiejus] Krivas… I thought we did a good job on [Tobe] Awaka… It was really Peat, that just used his physicality and did a great job being close to the rim.”
Historic Loss, But Lessons Learned
The defeat snapped Florida’s remarkable streak of 12 consecutive wins against ranked opponents. The Gators became just the fourth reigning champion to start 0-1 in the past 30 seasons and the first since Syracuse in 2003-04.
Despite the disappointment, Golden remained philosophical: “I’m super disappointed we lost, but the reason why we played this game was to give ourselves a really good opportunity to get a quality win. I don’t think anybody is going to hold this loss over our head, moving forward, and I do think it gives us a great opportunity to teach our team before we play North Florida on Thursday.”
Junior forward Thomas Haugh acknowledged the defensive lapses: “I think our bigs, as a group we know we need to be the best front court in the nation this year. We can’t let somebody like that come out here and score 30 points on us. It’s not acceptable, and it won’t happen moving forward.”
Florida hosts UNF on Thursday.