GAINESVILLE, Fla. – What happened Monday night in the Nevada desert did not sit well with the Florida basketball team. 
 
Yes, the season-opening date against Arizona in Las Vegas was an ambitious undertaking for the reigning NCAA champions, especially on the other side of the country. The Wildcats proved an outstanding opponent; probably better than expected. 
 

But the Gators’ expectations, to a man, were to play better than they did in defeat and no one took it harder than junior forward Alex Condon, the preseason All American who did not have his best outing. 
 
Condon admitted as much Thursday night after an outstanding performance in third-ranked UF’s 104-64 wipeout of North Florida at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center in the team’s home opener. 
 
“I definitely had a mindset that I just wanted to prove myself a little bit, get back to what I do,” said Condon, who had 11 points, six turnovers and fouled out in 29 minutes against UA. “The reason I was recruited was [for] my physicality and my rebounding, so just get back to that and keep it simple.”
 
Exactly no one will ever mistake UNF for Arizona, but that wasn’t the point Thursday night. The Gators came in looking to get their championship mojo and swagger back. After the 2025 NCAA championship banner was unfurled for the adoring O’Dome crowd, the undersized and overwhelmed Ospreys provided what amounted to a get-well scrimmage, with a certain 6-foot-11 Australian taking charge. 
 
Condon posted a double-double, the 10^th of his career, of 25 points and 10 rebounds, plus four assists, two steals and just one turnover in 26 minutes. He hit eight of 12 shots and nine of 10 free throws. 
 
“I thought he was great,” Golden said of Condon, adding his “big” from Down Under had an ideal mentality coming off the last game and at practice the day before. “He wasn’t feeling sorry for himself and making excuses. He was, ‘Just let me get back to it. Get back to what I know.’ I thought he did a great job of letting the game come to him, being aggressive when he needed to and had obviously a very efficient night. … I mean this is an insane All-America level type of night. We were all disappointed with how Monday went, but I thought he answered the bell.”
 
He wasn’t the only one. 

Senior center Micah Handlogten, clearly all the way back from the broken leg that cost him half his junior season, joined the double-double party with his second in as many games. The 7-1 backup finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, in just 18 minutes. Junior wing Thomas Haugh chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while the transfer guard starting backcourt of Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee carded 10 points apiece. 
 
UF shot 49% for the game, but went only 6-for-32 from the 3-point line (18.8%), making for a second straight dismal shooting display from deep. Unlike against the physical, attacking and aggressive Wildcats three nights earlier, the lack of long makes did not matter this time. That’s because the Gators shot 69% from the 2-point area, including an 18-for-22 first half (81.8%) when they opened a 52-28 lead, along the way pummeling the Ospreys 33-13 on the glass and 36-16 in paint points. 
 
“We knew we had the size advantage on them, so just go out there and be physical and play our game,” Handlogten said. “A lot of teams are going to have to adapt to us, so we just got to play our game – and it works.”
 
By night’s end, UF had a plus-40 advantage on the glass (64-24, with a team-record 29 offensive rebounds) and plus-42 in the paint (66-22) on the way to building a lead that swelled to as high as 43 with less than two minutes to play. 
 
By that time, every available Florida player had checked into the game, including 7-9 walk-on redshirt freshman center Olivier Rioux – the tallest player in college basketball history – who made his collegiate debut after sitting out all last season. 
 

and the crowd goes WILD 🔥

📺 SEC Network+ pic.twitter.com/ERh7OmhF4Q

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) November 7, 2025

“It felt great. The support from everybody was amazing,” said Rioux, who much to the dismay of the Rowdy Reptiles never touched the ball in his two minutes and nine seconds of action. “I’m very grateful.”
 
Florida actually trailed 10-9 through the first four-plus minutes, but an old-time 3-point play by Condon kicked in a dash of 13 consecutive points that turned into a 31-5 run over 10-plus minutes, capped by a steal and run-out 180-degree dunk by backup guard Isaiah Brown, who finished with nine points and a career-best eight rebounds. 
 
Condon nearly had his double-double, with 15 points and eight boards, before halftime.
 
“There’s no excuses now, it’s my third year here,” Condon said. “I just got to have the mindset that I’m a leader of this team. What I expect from the other guys, I got to expect for myself. No excuses.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.