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 flushed the performance out a little more.
"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."
How good? Lee was part of a trio, along with Fland and backup Urban Klavzar, that combined for 55 points and 11 makes from the arc. Fland, the transfer from Arkansas, had his highest-scoring game as a Gator with 17 points and four 3s. Klavzar, who led the team with 20 points in a disappointing loss to Texas Christian in the tournament's first round, threw in 18 off the bench.
It all made for a welcome sight, given the rough offensive start to the season for that backcourt, but also given the UF frontcourt came in down a man with forward Alex Condon held out for precautionary reasons after taking a blow to the head in the TCU loss. No matter. Haugh, the junior wing, did his thing with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while center Rueben Chinyelu matched that double-double with his fourth in five games, courtesy of 13 points and 10 boards. Senior center Micah Handlogten, who replaced Condon in the starting lineup, did not score, but had six rebounds and three assists.
UF shot 42.4% for the game, but the 12 makes from distance were a season-high and were half as many as PC made in hitting 43.4% overall. The Gators also knocked down 22 of 27 free throws (81.5%).
It all set the stage for a far more pleasant long flight home after blowing a 10-point second-half lead the day before, in great part because of an unsightly 19 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]."
He wasn't at first. The Gators had four turnovers in the game's first four minutes.
But they had just four 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 led 45-39 at the break. The Friars opened the scoring in the second half with a lone free throw 30 seconds in to make it a five-point game.
That's when Lee, who had only three points at intermission, put Vaaks on his ice skates with the first of those back-to-back 3s. After Lee drained the second to push the Gators ahead by 11, his body language – and bounce – completely changed. So did the UF bench, which erupted in support of their teammate. He would add another 3 later in the game.
"I've been in a dark place just trying to figure it out," said Lee, who shot 46.2% overall and 35.2 from the 3-point line during 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) managed to cut the UF lead back to four, 51-47, with about 16 minutes to go when Lee hit a short pull-up jumper, then skipped a cross-court pass to Fland for a 3 that forced the Friars to call a timeout. The first bucket out of the stoppage was a second straight Fland 3, which was followed by an offensive rebound and putback by Lee that took the lead to 14.
The margin ballooned to as high as 19 with just under eight minutes left and the Gators coasted home from there.
"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."
Yes, but Lee's awakening seemed awfully huge, as well. Especially with (too soon?) Tuesday's trip to No. 4 and unbeaten Duke, followed a week later by a date 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."
Raises the Gators' collective mojo, too. Lee had been waiting for a breakout moment like this. So had his teammates. When he got it, they all took off on the ride. 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."
Florida Men's Basketball | Head Coach Todd Golden Postgame Press Conference | ProvidenceFlorida Men's Basketball | Head Coach Todd Golden Postgame Press Conference | Providence
Saturday, November 29
Florida Men's Basketball | Xaivian Lee Postgame Media Availability | ProvidenceFlorida Men's Basketball | Xaivian Lee Postgame Media Availability | Providence
Saturday, November 29
Florida Men's Basketball | Xaivian Lee BREAKS DEFENDER'S ANKLES and Drains the Three-Pointer 😨😤Florida Men's Basketball | Xaivian Lee BREAKS DEFENDER'S ANKLES and Drains the Three-Pointer 😨😤
Friday, November 28
Xaivian Lee Postgame Press Conference 11-28-25Xaivian Lee Postgame Press Conference 11-28-25
