Six games into the 2025-26 campaign for the Florida Gators, and it is clear that this year's squad has a glaring flaw to it. Florida traveled to San Diego to face TCU as part of the Rady Children's Invitational and lost in an upset 84-80. The Gators had a double-digit 2nd half lead that slipped away due to a variety of reasons.
And while we are sure Florida will mix-and-match and Todd Golden isn't going to just sit on his hands, it is clear the Gators are far more warts to them this season than last.
Florida falls to TCU
To be fair, TCU is probably better than advertised. The Horned Frogs came in 3-2, but one of those was a close loss to the same Michigan squad that demolished Gonzaga this week.
Florida's problems once again begin with Xaivian Lee looking more and more like one of the biggest transfer portal busts from this past cycle. Lee did finally hit a three, but he finished with as many fouls and he did points:
Five.
Lee at least had zero turnovers, which couldn't be said about the rest of Florida's squad. All four of Florida's other starters had at least three turnovers, with Thomas Haugh turning it over five times.
So even though Urban Klavzar came off the bench and scored a career high 20 points, Florida's lack of a true ball handler was increasingly exposed in this game. Boogie Fland, who at least is active on the defensive end and had three steals, had four turnovers. And while he tried to show flashes to be Florida's potential "closer" down the stretch, he fouled out with under two minutes to play, and there just wasn't anyone else to take the mantle.
Alex Lloyd and Isaiah Brown both played 7+ minutes, and neither scored a point.
So despite a 53-43 lead with 15 minutes to play, TCU kept swarming Florida, and the Gators had no answers to alleviate the pressure. The Horn Frogs had 14 points in the 2nd half off turnovers, as well as 18 points in the 2nd half off fast breaks.
Florida had just two fast break points in the 2nd half because they don't have the guards to push to play.
Throw in that Florida shot just 27% from three, and it's almost a minor miracle they scored 80 points in the first place.
Florida will take the court again on Friday to face Providence before a massive matchup next week against Duke.