Nearly finished with a solid but unspectacular nonconference showing in the new season, Florida will conclude its play outside the Southeastern Conference when it meets the Ivy League’s Dartmouth on Monday in Gainesville, Fla.
Winners of three straight games, the No. 22 Gators (8-4) are one of six SEC teams in the latest AP Top 25 and have regrouped nicely after losing consecutive games to top-five Duke and UConn by a combined five points.
Coach Todd Golden’s team was criticized for its backcourt play early on, but he feels Xaivian Lee (12.3 points per game) has been a stabilizing force at guard alongside fellow transfer Boogie Fland (11.5).
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence and a lot more freedom,” Golden said of Lee, a Toronto native. “He’s played with the ball in his hands a ton, and we have him playing off the ball with Boog. I think he’s attacking in transition better, and he’s shooting the ball better.
“So, him kind of … running into that form has allowed us over the last six games to play some really consistent basketball, even though we lost a couple of those against really good teams.”
A former Ivy Leaguer at Princeton for three seasons, Lee energized a Florida backcourt that was sporadic at best.
“Really, since the Providence game, we’ve played like a top-15, top-20 team in every game,” added Golden. “(Xaivian) coming on has been a big part of that.”
Lee has been at the top of the scoresheet the past four games, including a season-high 24 points in an 80-70 win over George Washington, but Thomas Haugh paces the group with 17.3 points and adds 6.3 rebounds.
Alex Condon totals 14.1 points and 8.9 rebounds and a team-best 3.8 assists.
The Gators will open SEC play at Missouri on Saturday night.
The Big Green (5-6) are 2-4 on the road and have not played in close games lately, competing in five consecutive contests with double-digit margins of victory in which they went 2-3 following a one-point win over New Hampshire on Dec. 3.
Coach David McLaughlin’s team got off to a slow start at Sacred Heart its last time out and was walloped 85-63 in a matchup that Dartmouth rallied to even 47-all in the second half.
McLaughlin said he hopes his players return from break and look within themselves when they take the court against the defending national champions.
“It’s all about our identity,” McLaughlin said. “We know who we want to be on both ends of the court. We know what’s going to help us be successful, and we have to have belief in that. We have to be able to hold each other accountable and have ownership over that no matter how the game is going.”
Leading scorer Kareem Thomas (19.7 points per game) has topped the Big Green in scoring the past six games and nine of 11 overall. The sophomore guard from Wilmington, Del., is shooting 55.3% from the floor and a whopping 59% (23 of 39) from behind the arc.
Jayden Williams scores 12.4, while Brandon Mitchell-Day tallies 11.5 and a team-high 8.6 rebounds.
Dartmouth’s final nonconference match will be New Year’s Day afternoon when it hosts Elms College.
