UF coach Todd Golden takes questions during Thursday's pregame news conference at the NCAA Tournament site in Tampa.
Gators Reset After Wake-Up Call
Friday, March 20, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. – The mood in the locker room Saturday was one of deflation.
The Florida Gators, winners of 12 straight coming in, had just been worked silly by Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals at Nashville, Tennessee. It was the team's seventh loss of the season, but looked nothing like the previous six. The Commodores rolled to a double-digit lead midway through the first half and piled on from there en route to a 91-74 rout.
The players talked among themselves and processed the dejection. The program, frankly, had not dealt with a moment like this in, say, two years.
Boogie Fland (0), Thomas Haugh (10) and the rest of the Gators spent the week getting refocused following the humbling loss to Vanderbilt in last weekend's SEC Tournament.
"It was definitely humbling," said UF senior center Micah Handlogten, part of a squad that had won the previous 12 in a row by an average margin of 20.5 points. "None of those games were really close, but then we went out and just got punched. It brings you down to earth really quickly. That's why … ."
He paused for a moment.
"To be honest, maybe we needed it."
There isn't a coach in college basketball (or any sport) that goes into a game thinking it might be better to lose. The Gators went to Nashville looking to win a second straight tournament title and add more hardware to go alongside their 2026 SEC crown.
UF coach Todd Golden actually was asked earlier this week if he was glad his team lost its first game since Jan. 24.
"No," he snapped, but adding a caveat. "We're going to definitely learn from it. We're going to use it to our advantage, for sure."
Here's one thing they already know: Should a similar circumstance play out, there will be no learning, only burning. Whatever the coaches and players took away from their sloppy loss last weekend certainly will be top of mind Friday night when the No. 1-seed Gators (26-7) open defense of their national championship in first-round play of the NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional against 16-seed Prairie View A&M (19-17) in front what should be a friendly home crowd at Benchmark International Arena.
UF did some things well in the SEC Tournament. The Gators, per usual, rebounded to their bona fides on the offensive end, retrieving 46% of their missed shots in a quarterfinal defeat of Kentucky and a staggering 57% of their misses in the Vandy loss. Offensive rebounds are great, but they don't mean much if the team grabbing them isn't converting second-chance opportunities (UF shot 41.7% overall and 21.6 from the 3-point arc in the two games) or, worse, turning the ball over.
Florida's carelessness with the basketball – 32 turnovers in the two games, including nine in the first half against Vanderbilt that led to 20 points and a 13-point halftime deficit – was the team's most alarming takeaway from the defeat.
"Those are things we can control," UF point guard Boogie Fland said.
The Gators want to play fast, but Golden thinks they may have played too fast against the Commodores. Not necessarily on purpose, either.
"We played sped up," Golden said. "Hopefully, we can kind of get back to how we had been playing over the past two months, where we were very comfortable and playing fast but not in a hurry, [when] a lot of those kinds of uncharacteristic turnovers weren't showing up. It's not a secret. That was definitely our biggest issue this weekend. … We'll address it, and I feel confident that we'll get it right."
UF junior forward during Thursday's open practice at Benchmark International Arena.
The addressing was constant in two practices back in Gainesville earlier in the week and reinforced during a spirited 90-minute workout Thursday morning at Tampa Prep after learning Wednesday night they'd be matched against the Prairie View. The Panthers, a veteran squad out of the low-major Southwest Conference defeated Lehigh 67-55 in a First Four play-in game at Dayton, Ohio.
Prairie View, which will be playing its sixth game since March 10, flew to Tampa immediately that game, so the squad was probably running on fumes most of Thursday, with its reward a date against the '25 NCAA champs.
"They're playing good basketball and pose a lot of problems for every team, not only Prairie View," Panthers coach Byron Smith said.
True, but they certainly weren't at their best last time out and the Gators, to a man, referenced their coach's points of emphasis during media obligations before an open practice at the arena late Thursday afternoon. One more than any other.
"Take care of the ball," senior guard Xaivian Lee said.
Golden gave his players a statistic earlier in the day. When Florida posts a turnover rate of less than 16%, the Gators are 16-1 this season. When they go over 16%, they're 10-6.
"We got to take care of the ball and get shots on the rim because we're one of the best rebounding teams in the country. It's very simple," Florida associated head coach Carlin Hartman said. "We have to get back to being organized offensively, get back to screening, being strong with the ball in the low post. All of that … and not turning the ball over."
Team photo in Tampa.
The Gators know they're a very good team, but also know they were beaten by another good team last weekend and in doing so were reminded how much a loss this time of year can hurt.
The pain from a next one would be tenfold.
"Prairie View is a good team. We've got to respect them," junior forward Alex Condon said. "We can't go in just cruising. I think we did that a little bit against Vanderbilt just expecting to win."
Gator Boys | Through the FireGator Boys | Through the Fire
Wednesday, March 18
SEC Tournament: Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Todd Golden Postgame Press Conference 3-14-26SEC Tournament: Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Todd Golden Postgame Press Conference 3-14-26
