Thursday, November 5, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
What Happened
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior forward Alex Condon fell two assists shy of posting the fifth triple-double in Florida program history, but the top-ranked Gators made fairly easy work of Jacksonville in an 88-57 victory in their home opener Thursday night at the O'Connell Center.Condon's line scored showed 12 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots assists when he checked out of the game with nearly 11 minutes remaining and UF ahead by 28. Senior center Rueben Chinyelu led all scorers with a career-high 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from both the floor and free-throw line, to go with eight rebounds. Senior forward Thomas Haugh was next at 14 points, seven boards and four assists. The Gators finished with five players in double-figure scoring and began emptying their bench inside the eight-minute mark, with none of their main rotation guys logging more than 26 minutes.
The Gators shot 49% for the game, hit 11 of 25 of their 3-pointers and improved on Monday's poor free-throw shooting night by making 19 of 27 from the line (70.4%). Defensively, UF limited the Dolphins, out of the Atlantic Sun Conference and coached by former UF assistant Jordan Mincy, to 33% overall, six of 21 from distance and easily won the battle of glass with a 52-25 advantage.
JU was a stubborn out early on. The Dolphins stuck within six through the first eight minutes, twice fell behind by 10, but trailed by only five, 31-26, with less than five to play in the period when the Gators ended the half on a 19-2 blitz, including the last 10 points to take a 50-28 advantage to the locker room.
Turning Point
The run at the end of the first half featured a pair of 3-pointers from Denzel Aberdeen (12 points), plus another from Haugh, and slams by Condon and Chinyelu to take the home team into the locker room with all the momentum.Staggering Statistic
Condon became the first SEC player to post a double-double with at least seven assists and three blocks since LSU's Ben Simmons against North Florida on Dec. 2, 2015. Simmons was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.Up Next
Florida (2-0) will play its third cross-state foe in as many games to open the season when the Gators, in their first road date of '26-27, face rival Florida State (1-0) Tuesday night at Tallahassee. UF has won five straight in the series, dating to 2021, including two in a row at Tucker Center. FSU opened its season, like the Gators, Monday night in Tampa with a 113-69 blasting of Florida A&M. The Seminoles are home Friday night against Troy.Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.
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