No. 10 Florida Gators basketball falls to TCU on Thanksgiving as transfer guards remain ice cold

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

There are many ways to lose a basketball game. Few are as efficient as committing 19 turnovers. That’s what the No. 10 Florida Gators did on Thanksgiving, falling 84-80 to the TCU Horned Frogs, a program that has never finished better than fifth in its league since joining the Big 12.

The second loss of Florida’s season came amid some controversy as the Gators were seemingly called for endless fouls, while the Horned Frogs were regularly allowed to skate with miscues. Still, UF’s horrific ball protection and the substandard play of its backcourt were most to blame as it appears, through six games, that head coach Todd Golden made some miscalculations in the offseason.

Given the holiday and the lateness of this article being published, let’s take a brief look at the defeat with some not-so Fastbreak Takeaways from the first game of the 2025 Rady Children’s Invitational.

It was over when … TCU made a free throw to go up five points with 11 seconds left. The Horned Frogs ended the game on a 16-6 scoring stretch, turning a six-point deficit into a victory as the Gators remained ice cold and turnover prone. Florida outscored TCU 9-4 to open the second half, taking a 10-point lead that it ultimately squandered.

Exceptional efforts: Junior guard Urban Klavžar continued his short-term breakout, scoring a team-high 20 points on 4 of 7 shooting from downtown. Junior forward Thomas Haugh matched those 20 points, but while he grabbed five boards, he coughed the ball up five times. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu remained consistent with 13 points and 9 boards, but he similarly struggled with 4 turnovers and committed a flagrant foul in the closing seconds that helped put a comeback out of reach.

Uh-oh: Florida’s backcourt is a problem, and it’s all Golden’s doing. The fourth-year coach went into the transfer portal and suggested that he brought back pieces with the potential of replacing at least some of the talent possessed by the Gators’ triumvirate of star guards from their national championship season. Sophomore Boogie Fland and redshirt senior Xaivian Lee have been relative disasters by comparison. Fland, who scored 12 points but committed 4 turnovers and fouled out while only dishing two assists, is a young player who may be struggling to find his footing.

Lee, a veteran, has been horrific. After a 1 of 6 effort from the floor Thursday afternoon, he is now shooting 22.0% from the floor (21.9% worse than last season) and 16.7% from downtown (19.9% worse than last season). Lee is 2 of 18 from the field and 1 of 13 from deep over the last three games. The simple fact is that he can no longer start to Florida, no matter what he’s being paid in NIL. The Gators having depth issues — from an experience perspective — in the backcourt isn’t helping matters.

Up and down: Junior F/C Alex Condon continued his uneven play Thursday. He only scored 8 points while missing all three of his attempts from deep but added 8 boards and 8 dimes as the only player on the team who bothered to serve as a distributor. His single foul was the fewest on the roster, and his three turnovers were actually an acceptable number for him of late. Still, Condon had posted consecutive double-doubles after struggling to start the season, and UF simply needed him to do more in this game.

What’s next? Florida will play Providence, Billy Donovan’s alma mater, on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. The game will air live on Fox.