Jan. 19, 2026, 12:09 p.m. ET
It took a while, but it looks like the Florida basketball team is finally hitting on all cylinders after the Gators marched out of Nashville with a 98-94 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon.
Todd Golden’s gang had already lost as many games this season as they did last year on their run to the championship before opening the SEC schedule with a loss for the fifth-straight year — this time to the Missouri Tigers.
However, since then, the Orange and Blue have been on a tear, taking down the top-25-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers at home, respectively, before hitting the road to take down the Oklahoma Sooners, followed by the big Vandy win. That recent stretch has put Florida back on top of the SEC with the thick of the conference schedule coming up, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks.
“Don’t look now, but the reigning national champions might have their mojo back,” he begins.
“The No. 19 Gators won their third consecutive ranked game on Saturday, outlasting No. 10 Vanderbilt 98-94 in Nashville to (temporarily) climb to first on the SEC leaderboard. The star for UF Saturday was Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee, who had his best game yet in a Florida jersey … despite the team forgetting to pack his usual No. 1 jersey, forcing him to wear a leftover No. 99,” Marks continues.
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It has been noted ad nauseam by the fans and media alike — including this publication — that the key to the Gators’ success lies in the performance of their backcourt pair, and particularly in Lee finding his mark from beyond the arc.
“But after Lee’s 20-point, six-rebound, zero-turnover performance — including a stepback 3-pointer with 43.9 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner — there’s no way the guard can go back to his normal number. It was the most points Lee has scored in an SEC game, and ties his season high against a high-major foe.”
This was exactly the kind of game Florida needed to boost its confidence.
“Saturday’s win proved that the Gators, who suffered a series of close losses in nonconference play, can close out a tough win,” he concludes. Â
The Gators return home on Tuesday to host the LSU Tigers inside the O’Connell Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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