No.16 Florida won their fifth game in a row after a 79-61 victory vs. LSU on Tuesday night inside the O’Connell Center. The Gators improved to 14-5 (5-1 SEC) on the 2025-26 season and remain atop the SEC regular season standings.
The win marks Florida’s 16th straight home win and 10th consecutive SEC home win.
Junior center Rueben Chinyelu became the first Gator since David Lee in 2005 to earn four straight double-doubles on, recording 15 points and 21 rebounds vs. LSU. Tying his career high with 21 boards, Chinyelu became the first Gator since Chip Williams in 1975 to have multiple career 20-rebound games. He’s the sixth player in program history to notch multiple 20-rebound games, joining Neal Walk (seven), Williams (four), Cliff Luyk (three), Gary Keller and Jim Zinn (two each).
Urban Klavzar’s five three pointers were the most by a Gator this season and set Klavzar’s career high. The junior guard finished with 18 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Todd Golden picked up his 90th win as Florida head coach, the most through four seasons for any coach in program history. Golden surpassed Mike White’s previous record of 89.
Here’s everything Golden had to say postgame.
Opening statement:
“Really systematic win for our program, I’m really pleased. You know, obviously could have been prettier, could have shot the ball better from the line, but we defended, we rebounded and we took care of the basketball, and those are the three things that we talk about and stress all the time, and credit to Urby in the second half, hitting some big shots, allowing us to extend the lead a little bit. But good, balanced effort. I don’t think there’s one thing we did exceptionally well, but we did a lot of things well. And I think this LSU team is really good. They’re talented, they’re long, athletic, they’re physical. They gave us some problems in the first half that way, but I think we did wear them down over the course of 40 minutes, and really proud of our guys and the way they performed tonight.”
On how critical the bench contributions were tonight:
“Yeah, it’s been a huge part of why we’ve been better over the last couple weeks. I think our bench has given us a big lift. Micah is playing better, Urb’s been really good in league play, play and Isaiah has obviously been fantastic over the last couple weeks, and he’s continued to give us really strong minutes offensively, but really defensively on the glass. I feel like he’s given us a big lift. He was plus-16 in 13 minutes tonight. That’s hard to do, and when those guys are playing well, it allows us to keep that pretty consistent eight-minute rotation, which has worked really well for us in these last couple weeks.”
On Chinyelu’s 21-point rebound game, first Gator since David Lee to have four-straight double-double performances:
“Yeah, I think you’re seeing a guy that’s continued to grow and get better in real time. And he’s impacting the game tremendously. I think he’s just playing with such good balance, toughness. He’s obviously difficult to officiate, because I think he gets fouled on every play. And there’s sometimes where he doesn’t get those whistles, but he’s just really come into his own. Kind of got really comfortable offensively, but he just impacts the game so well defensively and on the glass that he’s become a real stalwart for us in the frontcourt.”
On the team having a knack for seven-point possessions:
“They’re big plays. And you know what, credit the refs, like, it was an obvious hook-and-hold, like, those have to be called, and they’re big, they’re advantageous plays. And obviously it’s another kind of the unsung value that Rueben has, when you can just be playing in the middle of the game, and you get two shots and the ball, because he’s constantly attacking the glass. But we have the ability to put some runs on people, and we did it again in the second half.”
On if Golden can feel Chinyelu wearing the opponent out:
“Yeah. I mean, I’m just watching and, like, I thought Nwoko played really well tonight. Credit to him, thought he was really tough. I thought he was hard to guard. Just an incredible athlete, just so explosive. But he’s just, you’re physically competing against this guy on every possession, and you’re looking out there, and the guy’s playing great with his hands on his knees, and on every free throw, and just kind of looking for air. And again, that’s who we are, that’s how this team is built. And kind of in that middle part of the second half, especially here in this building, like, we got to be able to extend it and not let people off the hook like they did tonight.”
On Florida still winning by 18 despite Condon and Haugh going 5-for-20 from the field:
“Yeah, I think, you know, again, how we’re built, where the goal is to not have to rely upon good shooting to win. And I know that sounds kind of funny, but you said they were, what, five for 20 combined. We were 14 for 27 from the line also, so we left a lot of points on the board that way. So we should have won by 25, I don’t know, but again, the formula works, and it’s a good feeling to know that we have to such a high floor.”
On Klavzar’s continuity has grown since the beginning of the season:
“Yeah I mean he’s settled into the role that we hoped he would this year, just being that little spark plug off the bench being able to come in and make shots and give a little offensive lift, you know, once we get our bench in there. And last year, it was a little difficult for him to break into rotation. And I think something like, ‘Oh, you know, what’s Klavzar looking like?’ He only had three NBA guys in front of him, and once those guys got out of the way, he started playing a little bit and doing some good things, but he’s awesome. Has the respect of his teammates, they know he’s going to go to war with them and fight. And when a guy has the ability to step up and hit big shots on the move like that, it’s a weapon. And he’s been big for us all year.”
On if this is the version of Rueben Chinyelu he envisioned when he first recruited him to Florida:
“I mean, to an extent, you know, I don’t know if the vision was every night crazy double-doubles, and 20 rebounds, and really the offensive lift he’s been able to give us. We knew he would impact the game a lot, but, you know, we always knew he impacted a way that not a lot of people understood, because of the physicality in the paint. But now he’s starting to stack the numbers, which gets the appreciation from, you know, a lot of fans and people that follow. But he’s been an incredible winning player for us since the beginning of last year, and now he’s taking that up a notch by being so productive and efficient on the offensive end.”
On Carlin Hartman’s message to the team after the under-12 media timeout, UF responded with a 7-0 run:
“We try to do a good job of making sure that our guys understand that we need to compete on every possession regardless of what the score is, and regardless of what the circumstance is. And I think coming into these games, we treat it like the national championship. We’re trying to win this game by as much as we can, trying to be as solid as we can, trying to be as physical as we can. So, every time when we don’t feel like we’re meeting the mark that way, we’re going to let them know. And that’s what’s great about our team is we get after them pretty good and they respond the right way. And there’s a lot of mutual respect and love between the staff and the players. So, when we do get on them, they know it’s not personal and we just have high expectations and we want the best for them. And they answer the bell generally every time. So, I assume there probably was a play in the paint where he thought that they got the better of us and he wanted to make sure those guys knew that that’s how we felt.”
On Florida’s defense against the LSU guards:
“I think we’re defending better on the perimeter. That little Spain, they run that little Peja action trying to get that lead screen with the 4 man. Nwoko is a great lob threat. He’s a beast at the rim, you just gotta put it up there and you gotta tag him or it’s too late. Took us a little bit to be comfortable that way. I thought Boog, he’s defending much better at the top, much more consistently, I should say. I think X has a done a great job all year sticking on shooters. I thought him and Urban did a great job on Mackinnon. He only got one 3 up tonight. He’s been averaging four made 3s a game. So, they’re tough, they’re coachable and they take pride executing me how we want to guard.”
On the return of Dedan Thomas Jr. for LSU:
“We knew that he was gonna be questionable, and to be honest, our preparation was the exact same whether he played or not. We didn’t change one coverage; we didn’t change the one thing. And not because he’s not a very good player, but it’s about us and what we do. And from my perspective, I would think of this as being kind of a tough one to come back into as your first game back. And so, it was what it was. He played 17 minutes and went 1-for-8. We did a really good job on him tonight.”