First-year forward Domen Petrovic, in his collegiate debut, drained two timely 3-pointers off the bench to help the Gators defeat Miami.
Gators Show Plenty in Reserve
Thursday, November 5, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Their first substitution Monday night came three-plus minutes in. The top-ranked Florida Gators trailed No. 14 Miami by two points early in their season opener and Coach Todd Golden called for guard Urban Klavzar, the 2026 Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year, off the bench.
He also called for forward Domen Petrovic, the 6-foot-9, 230-pound collegiate rookie.
"I didn't know we would go into the game as the first two subs," Klavzar said of the pairing with his Slovenian countryman. "This was his first college game, so he was probably a little nervous – we were all probably a little nervous – but he was not scared of the moment. I was so proud of the confidence he played with."
How confident? On the second UM offensive possession he faced, Petrovic grabbed a rebound in transition between two Hurricanes, chinning the ball in traffic and drawing a foul. Twelve seconds later, in the UF halfcourt, Petrovic caught a pass on the right wing at the 14:50 mark and before the clock hit 14:49 launched a 3-point attempt – the first shot of his career – and swished it to give the Gators the lead.
"I try to play with the attitude that every shot is the same," Petrovic said after his team's 77-67 victory. "I've taken millions of those shots in practice and I know my coaches and teammates trust me with that shot. That's why I felt so comfortable just stepping up and taking it."
Domen Petrovic, meet your first career 3 🔥🔥 🎥 ESPN2 https://t.co/vGTUBKkmhl
In his UF debut, Petrovic finished with six points, three rebounds, drew a charge, did not turn the ball over in 10 minutes and played solid on-ball defense, thus justifying the staff's decision to give him the first regular-season crack at the eighth spot in the rotation. Now, roll in the contributions from accompanying reserves Klavzar and guard Isaiah Brown, and Florida tallied 22 points and a plus-23 scoring differential in 44 minutes from a bench that had provided next to nothing – seven points at a minus-5 over 90 minutes – during the two preseason games.
It was the kind of collective performance the Gators (1-0) needed, especially given the high-end competition, early in this season of tremendous expectation, with Thursday night's home opener against Jacksonville (1-0) at the O'Connell Center next on the docket.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
"They got some criticism in the preseason. I was criticizing them a little bit in the preseason and asking them for more," Golden said of his backup players. "They delivered."
As poised and productive as Petrovic proved, Brown was even better. The 6-5 wing was the third sub, checking it at the 13:17 mark of the opening half. Within two minutes, he forced a tie-up on defense and nailed a second-chance 3-pointer from the corner that started a run of nine consecutive points that gave the Gators the lead for good. In the final two minutes of the period, Brown crashed the offensive glass from the baseline and threw down a missed floater by Thomas Haugh and added a pair of free throws at the 1:02 mark to send UF to the locker room with a 10-point cushion.
Brown finished with seven points (he made both his field-goal attempts, his lone 3 and both free throws), three rebounds and a staggering plus-16 over just 13 minutes.
"I played with a clear mind and a belief in everything I had to do," said Brown, who made a handful of winning plays Monday after (like his bench buddies) going mostly non-existent in the preseason games against Baylor (82-76 overtime loss at Jacksonville) and Stetson (85-68 win at home), with one point and two rebounds over 25 total minutes. "My mindset was, no matter what I do, just do it by giving my all. Every play."
Brown took particular note to Golden's pregame refrain -- "Don't be afraid to fail" -- to play instinctively but also smart. Brown took the coaching to heart and Golden could not have been more pleased.
Charting the Gators: The Bench How UF's four reserves fared individually and collectively in the season-opening defeat of Miami.
The staff gauges its subs by which way the scoreboard goes when they're in the game. That Brown's impact allowed UF to outpoint a deep, talented team like the Hurricanes by 16 in so few minutes did not go unnoticed.
"He was absolutely awesome," Golden said. "We'd been really – I don't know if I would say – hard on Isaiah, but we have challenged him a lot because he gave us such a great season last year that we built this team planning on him playing a very important role. He just hadn't played his best in the exhibition games. We knew it would eventually show up."
Backup guardIsaiah Brown (20) reacts to his coach's shout-out during the post-game celebratioin Monday night.
At least Brown had a resume for the Gators to lean into. He averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, shot over 50% from the floor and 40 from 3 in SEC play last season. Same with Klavzar, obviously, who rained in nearly 41% of his 3-point tries last season and was coming off a 24-point outburst when he started for the injured Boogie Fland in the Stetson exhibition.
They had no such local data on Petrovic, a 22-year-old international pro who played alongside Klazvar for the Slovenian national team.
Though armed with a sturdy frame, Petrovic came to UF with the reputation as a shooter and showed as much during summer workouts. Truth be told, however, he had some tough moments (with some tough coaching) during live work at practices. He was a DNP in the Baylor exhibition and had a non-descript outing against Stetson.
"Our bench didn't really show up in those games, but we stayed at it," Petrovic said. "We challenged ourselves."
They need to continuing challenging themselves.
"The goal of the bench is not come in and just hang around. We should always try to make the team better and go on some runs," Klavzar said. "We have the ability to do that every single night."
