Florida Gators guard Xaivian Lee has been named co-Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the SEC announced on Monday. Lee shares the honor with Dailyn Swain of Texas.
In a pair of victories over rivals Georgia and Kentucky, Lee totaled 40 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, four steals, and only two turnovers. After hitting just one of his previous 14 three-point attempts, Lee bounced back by shooting 7-of-16 (43.8%) from beyond the arc last week.
Lee led the way in Florida’s 86-66 road victory over Georgia on Wednesday, posting a team high 18 points and seven assists with no turnovers. The senior guard scored or assisted on 14 of UF’s 32 field goals in the game (44%) and recorded three steals in the contest. Lee’s plus-minus of 18 tied Rueben Chinyelu for the team high vs. the Bulldogs.
“He was great. He was one of the best players on the floor, clearly, tonight,” head coach Todd Golden said postgame. “I thought he did a great job just playing with poise, especially when Georgia tried to speed us up, taking care of the basketball, hit some really big threes – one early, two late – that kind of stymied a couple of their runs. I thought he played with really, really good poise all night. (He) ended up with 7 assists in this game with no turnovers. Says a lot about his effort.”
Against Kentucky on Saturday, Lee provided Florida with an immediate spark, knocking down his first five shots including three triples. The 6’4, 180-pound guard finished with a team-high 22 points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal in just 25 minutes on the floor. The win kept Florida at a perfect 6-0 vs. ranked SEC opponents this season.
“I thought he was fantastic today,” Golden said on Lee. “Just got off to a great start knocking shots down. To your point he did a really good job of playing with great patience in the paint, playing off two, making good decisions. And he gave us a big lift.”
Florida has now set a program record with four different players winning SEC Player of the Week honors in a single season (Lee, Haugh, Chinyelu, Condon). It also ties an SEC record, joining 2023-24 Texas A&M, 2010-11 Vanderbilt and 2007-08 Tennessee among programs with four different honorees in a season.