The top-ranked Florida Gators opened the 2026-27 season in winning fashion, defeating No. 14 Miami 77-67 in Tampa.
"I don't think the game let us down. I thought we did a great job, really proud of my team," said head coach Todd Golden, who is now tied for fifth in program history in wins with 104. "I thought we competed the right way. I've challenged our team over the past couple weeks that we can't just compete and play hard; we have to play smart, as well. I thought we did a better job putting those two things together tonight."
That said, here are three things that stood out from the win.
Thomas Haugh returned to Florida for his senior season with revenge on his mind after last year's early exit in the NCAA Tournament. With that comes national attention, especially as he is an early contender for the Naismith Trophy. In Monday's season-opener, he made his first case for the award.
Haugh recorded a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win, marking the ninth double-double of his career. He shot 6-for-13 from the field, including an impressive 4-for-8 mark from deep, while adding four assists, two blocks, a steal and zero turnovers. His four makes from deep match a career high.
"Best player on the floor tonight as you can tell by his numbers," Golden said. " I'm going to give him a hard time about his free throw shooting later, but everything else was just an insane effort both on the offensive end - his numbers speak for themselves."
Florida took a strong first step as it chases its fourth national title in program history, and Haugh took a strong step as he looks to finish his career as one of the program's all-time greats.
Florida's bench production had been an eyesore in the preseason. On Monday, it was a sight to behold.
The three-man bench rotation of guards Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown, alongside newcomer Domen Petrovic, combined for 22 points, making seven of their 12 combined shots. Klavzar and Petrovic provided lifts from deep, each hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
"They got some criticism in the preseason," Golden said of the trio. "I was criticizing them a little bit in the preseason and asking them for more, and they delivered for us tonight."
Brown, in particular, shined with seven points and three rebounds, posting a team-best +16 plus-minus in 13:30 of action.
"He was absolutely awesome," Golden said. "... He just hadn't played his best in the exhibition games. Tommy can tell you, he had an incredible fall and was playing really well, so we knew it would eventually show up. As you said, plus-16 in 14 minutes, that's really hard to do. I think he made a lot of winning plays, hit some big shots. He gave us a big lift."
Arguably the biggest moment in Florida's 10-point win came in a stretch in which the Hurricanes shot 1-for-19 from 11:43 until 1:21 in the second half. Miami had cut the deficit to two just a couple of minutes before that drought, which allowed the Gators to pull away with the win.
While Miami's Acaden Lewis led all scorers with 24 points, he shot 1-for-6 in the stretch. Florida also out-rebounded the Hurricanes 44-39, blocked five shots, had seven steals and forced 11 turnovers. Haugh credited the defensive performance to the gameplan and scouting by the coaching staff.
"I think the scout that they put together for this game was the best scout I've had since being here at Florida," Haugh said. "We were out there playing and just felt like everything was moving how we knew it was going to move. Nothing surprised us."
Florida hosts Jacksonville on Thursday at 8 p.m. for its home opener. Streaming coverage can be found on SEC Network+.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as 3 Things That Stood Out from the Florida Gators' Season-Opening Win Over Miami .
