Florida basketball falls short at Duke: Observations, takeaways

DURHAM, N.C. – There’s an argument to be made that Florida basketball rallying from a 15-point deficit on the road against top-five Duke is an example of the Gators’ season trending in the right direction.

Still, Florida came up short in the final seconds of a 67-66 road loss to the No. 4 Blue Devils on Dec. 2.

“I told our guys to win in a place like Cameron (Indoor), you have to outplay Duke by 10 points,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “You are not going to get 50-50 calls. Things aren’t going to go your way, and we certainly had a little bit of that tonight. Again, overall, I thought we played a good game."

It’s still early in the season, but in the grand scheme of things, No. 14 Florida (5-3) has frustratingly allowed games to slip late. But as a testament to the difficulty of playing the Blue Devils, Duke (9-0) entered the game with an 85-game win streak when leading by 15 or more points.

“Our level of competitiveness is not a concern of mine ever,” Golden said. “It’s execution that’s been our issue. We have not been anywhere near as good enough that way. I thought tonight we were good enough.”

Here are three observations from Florida basketball’s narrow loss to Duke:

Florida basketball’s second-half defense gave the Gators a chance

The Gators’ second-half effort was arguably their best as they outscored Duke by 11 points. The defensive effort helped erase the 15-point deficit. Duke was also 0-for-9 from the 3-point line to start the half.

“I thought it was our best 20 minutes overall period,” Golden said.

UF’s frontcourt combo of Alex Condon and Reuben Chinyelu was vital in the second-half defensive effort as Duke shot over 51% in the first half, but dwindled to 37% in the second.

The duo combined for 12 points and 12 rebounds in the second half, with Condon finishing the game with a double-double.

“We didn’t play well enough in the last 10 minutes of the first half,” Golden said. “We played an elite second half and outscored them by 11. We just dominated the second half. We beat them by 11 on the boards. We turned the ball over a few too many times.”

Florida basketball has up-and-down night vs. Duke’s Cameron Boozer

One of the biggest question marks was how Florida would stack up against Duke’s star Cameron Boozer.

The true freshman put up 16 points in the first half as he went 6 of 9 from the floor.

“What we couldn’t live with was allowing Cam to get back to his right hand, left shoulder, center of the line,” Golden said. “Giving him those right lane drives.”

Yet Chinyelu matched up with Boozer much better in the second half, as he scored 13 points but went 4 of 12.

“I thought Reuben shut his water off,” Golden said. “He didn’t allow that to happen. He kept beating him to the spot and made him counter. He made a couple of lefty, tough hooks, which we’ll live with. We kept him off the foul line that way. I thought our zone bothered him a little bit.

“Making him more efficient in the second half was what gave us the opportunity to outscore them by 11.”

Florida basketball’s backcourt struggles continue

The main reason Florida fell into an early hole was due to its backcourt struggling to shoot the ball.

Starting guards, Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, were a combined 1 of 11 in the first half and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. They also had two turnovers and no assists. Urban Klavar, who had a decent defensive night, was 1 of 6 from the floor in the half as well.

“(Xaivian) didn’t play well enough,” Golden said. “I thought Urban played really well. I thought he was tough. I thought he defended. We did a great job on (Isaiah) Evans; unfortunately, it was the last (shot) of the night.”

However, Fland managed to bounce back in the second half, which provided late life for Florida in the final seconds of the game. Fland scored 13 of his 16 points and hit two 3-pointers.

“I thought Boog did a good job staying the course in the first half,” Golden said. “He did a great job picking his spots in the second half. He played well tonight. I thought he did a great job of being disruptive defensively. Making their point guard’s life really hard. He did his job tonight.”

Still, finding overall consistent play from the guards has still eluded Florida this season.

“Duke is good,” Golden said. “There’s going to be moments in the game where it’s not going your way. We went down 15, and you come back and take in the game like this tonight with a chance to win late. I’m really proud of our group, and I think we’re going to have a good season.”

Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball vs Duke takeaways as Gators fall in ACC/SEC Challenge