Florida vs. Duke score, takeaways: No. 15 Gators edged by No. 4 Blue Devils in hard-fought battle

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

Though the No. 15 Florida Gators battled back after a horrendous first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium, they were unable to complete a road upset of the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night in North Carolina. UF lost for the second time in its last three games and suddenly stands in danger of reaching .500 in nonconference play with a difficult schedule still ahead.

While the reigning national champions looked anything but capable of hanging with Duke in the early going, Florida found its shooting stroke in the second half, particularly when one of its starting guards found a place on the bench. The Gators ultimately took a late lead but were unable to hang on as these teams met in one of their home gyms for the first time in 27 years.

Let’s take a look at what went down as UF dropped a hard-fought battle on the road in the 2025 SEC/ACC Challenge with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … Duke deflected an inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds left as Florida failed to create a final play trailing by one. A massive 3-pointer by sophomore guard Boogie Fland pushed the Gators ahead two points with 35 seconds remaining, but the Blue Devils immediately answered by taking advantage of a double team on defense to hit a wide-open triple with 21 seconds left, creating the game’s final margin. Fland, who scored nine of UF’s last 1 points, dribbled the ball off his leg on the ensuing possession, but the hosts missed the front end of a one-and-one ahead of the final sequence.

Florida opened the second half by immediately slicing into its substantial deficit, using an extended 14-2 scoring stretch and quick 5-0 run to trail by a point with less than 13 minutes to play. Poor ball handling led to a barrage of UF turnovers, allowing Duke to reextend its lead, but consecutive treys from junior forward Thomas Haugh and junior G Urban Klavžar put the visitors back in the game. Six straight from Fland completed an 8-2 run that briefly tied the contest, but five straight from Cameron Boozer ensured the Blue Devils never fell that far behind.

First half focus: Florida was dreadful shooting the ball, going 10 of 35 from the floor and 3 of 16 from downtown as Duke used a 17-2 run to break apart a tie and jump ahead by 15 points late in the opening period. A blatant missed goaltend on the Blue Devils created a four-point swing on the fastbreak, exasperating the drought, as the Gators somehow grabbed 10 offensive rebounds (getting eight additional shots) but only registered two second-chance points. That is nearly impossible to achieve.

Exceptional efforts: Haugh was again the straw that stirred Florida’s drink for most of the game, scoring a team-high 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting with 6 rebounds. He nearly went shot for shot with Boozer, who scored a game-high 29 points. Fland started horrendously but came on in the second half when he scored 13 of his 16 points, including nine of UF’s last 11. His four turnovers, however, were an excruciating game-high.

Junior center Rueben Chinyelu did a great job defending Boozer throughout the contest, and he combined with junior F/C Alex Condon, who posted a double-double, to grab 24 of the Gators’ 44 rebounds.

The fat lady has sung: Despite a surprisingly competent performance in Florida’s prior game, time has run out on senior G Xaivian Lee, who finished 1 of 10 from the field and 1 of 6 from deep with only one assist. Lee is now 21 of 85 from the floor (.247) and 12 of 57 from long range (.210) on the season, respectively 20% and 10% worse than his junior season at Princeton. Furthermore, he’s only averaging 3.6 assists per game after dishing 5.5 last season. His court minutes are wasted. The Gators clearly play better with him on the bench. Head coach Todd Golden simply cannot allow this to continue.

Odds & ends: Florida fell to 4-15 all-time against Duke with an 0-6 record in Cameron Indoor … this was the first meeting between the teams at a home gym in 27 years … the teams have not played in Gainesville, Florida, since 1937 … the Blue Devils have won three straight and six of the last seven meetings … UF is now 29-67 all-time against top five opponents (6-4 under Golden), 3-34 on the road (1-3) … the Gators are 0-3 this season when their opponent shoots 44.5% or better from the field and 0-3 when their opponent attempts more free throws

Florida registered just 4 assists, its fewest in a game this season (by 10) and fewest during any game in si years (Nov. 29, 2019) … UF grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, grabbing 48% of its missed shots, but only scored 15 second-chance points (13 in the second half) … Duke’s 11 blocks negated Florida’s paint advantage

What it means: There’s no such thing as a “good loss” these days, especially when a team doesn’t get credit for losing by one on the road, even against a Quadrant 1 opponent. However, the Gators did show a ton of grit coming back from their massive first-half deficit, especially considering how poorly they shot over the opening 20 minutes. Duke was no more talented than Florida; it just happened to get a couple key bounces and calls in the contest, including a horrendous missed goaltending and questionable technical foul call. Still, UF lost this game based on how poorly it started.

The Gators should wind up playing with more consistency by the time SEC play rolls around, but Golden must make some key adjustments to his rotation — namely limiting Lee’s minutes until he shows an ability to play within himself and, you know, actually make baskets. He’s a straight-up liability on the court, particularly because he’s not even dishing dimes, which would allow his teammates to make a scoring impact as he struggles.

What’s next? Florida gets a week off before it returns to the court against another top-tier opponent when it faces No. 5 UConn at Madison Square Garden next Tuesday in the 2025 Jimmy V. Classic. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. ET and air live on ESPN.