Jan. 20, 2026Updated Jan. 21, 2026, 12:28 a.m. ET
Florida basketball (14-5, 5-1) defeated the LSU Tigers, 79-61, on Tuesday night, as the Gators rode yet another strong performance from center Rueben Chinyelu.
Chinyelu scored 15 points and added 21 rebounds to keep Florida ahead by double-digits for the entirety of the second half. Things started off a little slow, which explains the low scoring total on the night, but something clicked near the end of the first half and Florida never looked back.
Urban Klavzar led all scorers with 18 points over 24 minutes off the bench. He went 5-for-9 from 3-point range, helping Florida to finish at 33.3% on the night. Alex Condon and Boogie Fland each had 10 points as well. Thomas Haugh had a bit of an off night, but he still finished with a game-high plus-minus of 18.
Florida looks like the team to beat in the SEC in the middle of a five-game win streak that could go even further with a favorable schedule through the rest of the month.
Most of the first half was ugly. Shots weren’t falling for either team, and Florida couldn’t get the easy ones at the free-throw line. Thomas Haugh didn’t have a made field goal until there was a minute left in the half, and two of Florida’s four made 3-pointers came under the two-minute mark.
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There was even a sequence under the rim where Handlogten missed three straight attempts in under a minute before finally getting the bucket to fall. Keep in mind, Handlogten doesn’t leave the paint unless it’s time to run back on defense.
Things clicked around the 4-minute mark on the clock, though. Fland was fouled and made both of his free throws, Kalvzar drained a wide-open 3-pointer and LSU turned the ball over three times in five possessions. The result was a 15-8 run to give the Gators a double-digit lead at the break.
It’s a stark contrast from what Florida has done throughout the season. Typically, the Gators build up a lead and then fall flat in the middle 10.
Rueben Chinyelu is Florida’s best player
Thomas Haugh was the spark for Florida in the first half of the season, but Rueben Chinyelu’s dominance can no longer be denied. He’s not just playing like the best player on the team; he’s playing like the best big man in the SEC — maybe even the country.
Chinyelu’s fourth-straight double-double gives him 11 on the year, and he’s averaging 17.8 points and 14.5 rebounds over that span. His 21 boards tonight put him well ahead of pace to become the first Gator since Bob Smyth averaged 12.7 over 26 games in the 1975-76 season. Keep in mind that Condon and Haugh are both on the court 8.3 and 6.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Not to mention Handlogten’s 6.3 per game off the bench.
At the start of the season, no one was talking about Chinyelu as a future NBA player. Now, it’s hard to imagine him not getting his name called in the draft. Give the man his roses while he’s still in Gainesville, folks.
A national championship run is back on the table
Yes, it’s still quite early in the year to be thinking about a March Madness run, but the past two weeks have re-established Florida as the team to beat in the SEC, and only Vanderbilt looks close. Alabama and Kentucky will get their chance in February, but Todd Golden’s squad seems to be getting better with each game.
The guards have improved greatly and are starting to hit shots when it counts, turnovers are down and the rebounding is just as strong as ever. Everything is coming together for the Gators, but this can’t be the peak of the year. The frontcourt went through this a year ago and rode a high to an SEC and national championship.
If Chinyelu, Condon and Haugh can continue to set the tone emotionally, a repeat is plausible. It takes a little luck to get there, but this is an entirely different team than it was in mid-November.
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