![Florida Alex Condon (21) drives against Jacksonville during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 5, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3000,h_1687/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01m6rgn2rg8p5eajnak3.jpg "Florida Alex Condon (21) drives against Jacksonville during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 5, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Anytime a game starts with a 34-point spread, the main headlines for Florida the following day are going to fall into one of two categories:
- Florida rolls over an overmatched opponent.
- Florida suffers one of the most shocking upsets in college basketball history.
Thankfully, headline one played out: Florida started a little sluggishly, then built a massive lead before unloading the bench in an 88-57 win over Jacksonville to move to 2-0 on the season.
Florida rolls over Jacksonville to move to 2-0
The primary headline to emerge from Thursday was Alex Condon, who was just shy of a triple-double in a tidy 25 minute night. Condon had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists to keep Jacksonville at bay. Condon more than likely would have picked up Florida’s first triple-double in almost a decade had he stayed in.
But Florida was able to shoot 11-25 from three, including 6-12 in the first half, and grab 20 offensive rebounds to eventually just overpower Jacksonville, who did tie the game at 8-8 five minutes into the game.
The real stretch run for Florida that put that game out of reach was with five minutes to go in the first half. Jacksonville was still hanging around and pulled within 31-26. The defense for Florida clamped down in the final five minutes, allowing just two points the rest of the half, while Denzel Aberdeen hit a couple of three-pointers, and Florida’s big men just punished Jacksonville down low to go into halftime with a 50-28 lead.
Todd Golden formally pulled the plug on the bulk of the starters with 7:28 to play in the game, up 79-45.
If you're looking for negatives from Thursday night, the bench was turnover-prone, and in the first half it felt like Florida’s guards were still struggling to drive and create at the rim. As noted, the three point shooting was fine, but Florida is going to need to find someone to create a bit more, or else the flaws of last year are going to emerge.
Other than that, it was the type of night that one would expect a team like Florida to have, and it’s one that won’t threaten their No. 1 spot when the new rankings come out next week.
Florida will face FSU on 11/10.
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