Gators senior guard Urban Klavzar (7) missed all seven field-goal attempts during the Oct. 18 exhibition loss to Baylor in Jacksonville.
Gators Look to Tune Up, Turn Out in Exhibition Finale
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Urban Klavzar, after his fourth and fifth miss from the 3-point line, wore a look of frustration. He couldn't hide it and didn't try to. The sharp-shooting Florida backup guard was in his feels and took it with him on the bus ride back from Jacksonville, stewing all the home about his 0-for-7 display in the Gators' 82-76 exhibition loss Oct. 18 against Baylor.
"I remember once, when I was maybe 15, I had a game where I went like 3-for-17 or 3-for-18, something like that," Klavzar, the senior who hit nearly 41% from distance last season, said Monday. "I'd maybe had one or two of those games in my life … but never zero-for-something."
And he just as well could have recruited teammate Denzel Aberdeen for a support group that day.
Aberdeen, the fifth-year shooting guard, in that same Oct. 18 game went three of 17 from the floor, including 0-for-10 from the arc. Aberdeen shot 36.3% last season at Kentucky and 35% as the Gators' top backcourt reserve during their run to the 2025 NCAA championship.
"I've had some bad shooting games … but I always made at least one," Aberdeen said with a smile. "I most definitely thought about it, but you also have to move on from it and just understand that me and Urb are never going to shoot like that ever again. Ever."
And that's exactly the approach the duo took when they returned to the practice gym the next morning – on an off day, no less – to get shots up with assistant Taurean Green.
Klavzar hit 84.6% and Aberdeen was good for 76.7 during that session. That was nine days ago. All parties have moved on.
"We don't dwell on it too much," Aberdeen said. "We know we have to make shots for this team to be successful. That game didn't count, which is good, but hopefully we'll make some shots in this one."
As in Tuesday night's exhibition against Stetson at the O'Connell Center, an outing that will mark the final exhibition game of the preseason before the Gators, ranked No. 1 in the nation, officially open their 2026-27 campaign Monday night against 14th-ranked Miami in Tampa.
Look for a bounce-back performance from fifth-year guard Denzel Aberdeenafter his 3-for-17 shooting (including 0-for-10 from 3) against Baylor.
The Hatters return two starters from a team that went 12-21 last season and are expected to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They don't figure to be much of a test for the Gators, but that's also not the point. Not for this game.
"To be as honest as I can be, it's a different challenge for us against [Stetson]," Golden said. "I think Baylor is obviously more athletic, bigger, stronger team. And some of that bothered us."
In their big preseason test against the Bears, a tough and talented Big 12 team, Florida shot only 34.7% overall, made just four of 19 attempts from deep (13.7%) and got outscored, out-rebounded and basically outplayed in what was an out-of-character second half.
The inability to make open shots (by Aberdeen, Klavzar, whomever) was a byproduct of other factors.
"I thought we did a really bad job making decisions, plain and simple," Golden said. "We have a really bright team. Generally speaking, that's one of our strengths. And for whatever reason – advantage-disadvantage situations, 4-on-3s [and] things of that nature – I thought we did not make the right play enough, and I think that affected us. We took 17 more shots than Baylor in the game. We took three more free throws. By the math, that's pretty good. But we also could have got better shots, too. So, we had the volume, but I want the quality to be a little better as well."
So, this one will be about cleaning up some things internally and getting back to playing the right way.
The Gators also need to settle on the back end of their rotation, where they're still looking for some unproven reserve players – like sophomore guard Alex Lloyd or first year international forward Domen Petrovic – to take a step and give their coaches confidence to put them in the game.
Sophomore guard Alex Lloyd(left) drives to the cup during Monday's practice at the O'Dome.
Yeah, seeing shots go in would be helpful, but better, more precise and intentional execution will go a long way toward making that happen.
So will hitting the floor with the kind of edge worthy of the nation's No. 1 team less than a week from opening the season with a target on its jersey.
"We need to come out with the right mentality, as if it's a real game" Klavzar said. "And we need to get back to having fun. I think some of that was missing last time."
