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Final score, recap, highlights from Florida's win over Jacksonville
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- Final score, recap, highlights from Florida's win over Jacksonville
Florida basketball beat the Jacksonville Dolphins, 88-57, inside the O'Connell Center on Thursday night to improve to 2-0 in the nascent 2026-27 campaign. The visitors hung tough for a while, but the Gators proved to be too much for their in-state foes, earning their 36th straight home-opener win in blowout fashion.
Rueben Chinyelu led the way for the Orange and Blue with a game-high 21 points along with eight rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot. Alex Condon flirted with a triple-double by scoring 12 points while adding 12 boards and eight assists, as well as three blocked shots, in a stellar all-around effort for Florida.
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Four of the five Gators starters notched double-digit scoring, with Boogie Fland managing only four points along with three assists and a rebound; his value on the court, however, went far beyond the numbers as he played a strong game at point on both sides of the ball. Seven different reserves also found their way onto the scoreboard in this one.
Hayden Wood led the charge for Jacksonville with 11 points — all coming in the first half — to go with three rebounds. Jaimie Phillips Jr. was the only other Dolphin to finish in double digits with 10 points along with four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Florida shot a robust 48.3% (26 of 60) from the field overall and 44.0% (11 of 25) from 3-point range, while shooting an improved 70.4% (19 of 27) from the free-throw line. Jacksonville made 33.3% (19 of 57) of its shots from the floor and just 28.6% (6 of 21) from downtown but did manage an impressive 86.7% (13 of 15) mark from the charity stripe.
The Gators outmuscled the Dolphins on the boards, 52-25, with a 20-8 edge on the offensive glass, and managed 23 second-chance points against their opponent's 11, while outscoring them, 36-12, in the paint. Jacksonville actually outstole the home team, 11-4, but trailed in points off of turnovers, 12-10; JU did outscore UF in transition, but only by a 6-4 margin.
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Next up, Florida heads to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles for the Gators' only true road game until SEC play begins. The Sunshine State battle will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Florida vs Jacksonville score
| TEAM |
H1 |
H2 |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville |
28 |
29 |
57 |
| Florida |
50 |
38 |
88 |
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FINAL: Florida 88, Jacksonville 57
09:51 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
And that's all she wrote, folks! The Gators prevail by a 31-point margin to improve to 2-0 early on in the 2026-27 campaign.
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Florida leads by 34 with one minute remaining
09:49 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Golden has stuck with his bench players, leaving Condon on the sideline with 12 points, 12 boards and eight assists — just two dimes short of that elusive triple-double.
Nonetheless, the reserves are getting some quality garbage-time minutes as the blowout winds down to a close.
Florida in complete control as game winds down
09:42 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
The Gators hold a 32-point lead at the 3:49 mark with the score at 84-52. Condon is out of the game, so it doesn't look like he'll get a chance to complete the triple-double, but Golden needs to keep his star forward healthy for the long season ahead.
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Florida can still crack the 100-point barrier, but with the bench players now on the floor, it seems a bit uncertain. Nonetheless, the Orange and Blue are cruising to their second win of the season and first on their home floor.
Gators up by 34 with 7:28 left to go
09:33 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Florida is pouring it on at this point, having run off 14 straight points before a Williams 3-pointer snapped the streak, but Aberdeen responded with a tre of his own to make it 79-45 with 8:09 remaining. As of the media timeout, Chinyelu leads all scorers with 21 points along with seven boards, an assist, and a block, while Condon nears a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Florida extends lead to 27 with 11:42 remaining
09:24 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
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The Gators run off seven straight points — five by Klavžar on a layup and a 3-pointer after Chinyelu's technical-foul free throws — and are looking to blow this one wide open at this point. They're shooting 60% (6-for-10) overall this half while making three of their six 3-point shots and all four free-throw attempts so far.
Florida leads by 27, 69-42.
Lead remains at 22 at 12:53 mark
09:19 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Jacksonville is down but not out as they continue to hang around and not let Florida blow things wide open just yet. The Gators had scored 10 straight points, but the Dolphins responded with five straight of their own thanks to a jumper in the paint by Phillips Jr. and Morrow's second 3-pointer of the game.
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However, Morrow got tagged with a flagrant 1, sending Chinyelu to the line, where he drains both attempts.
Florida maintains 22-point lead at 15:34 mark
09:10 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Jacksonville opens the half with a 4-point play as Chinyelu fouls Nehemiah Turner on a made 3-pointer; Turner would drain another 3 on the next possession to give his team a 7-point run out of the locker room. Chinyelu would then pick up his second foul of the game with 18:13 left and then his third at the 17:13 mark, sending him to Golden's bench.
Nonetheless, Florida responded with a pair of free throws by Condon, as well as his first 3-pointer of the season, and a Haugh dunk in transition — the Gators' first fast-break points of the game — restoring the 22-point lead at 59-37.
HALFTIME: Florida leads, 50-28
08:46 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
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The Dolphins showed a little bit of 2-3 zone, but the Gators were able to split it down low for a dunk, followed by a jump hook in the paint by Condon. Then Aberdeen drains a 3 from the right corner to give Florida seven straight points heading into the final minute.
Jacksonville abandons the zone, but it doesn't matter as Condon finds Chinyelu in front of the rim for an easy dunk to make it nine straight. Chinyelu then makes one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds left in the half to give the Gators a 22-point edge heading into the locker room thanks to a 10-point run in the final two-plus minutes.
Gators hold onto 7-point lead at 3:47 mark
08:38 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
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Jacksonville has started to hit its shots from outside, which has helped keep the Dolphins in the game, but Florida continues to push ahead. Haugh and Chinyelu now have nine points apiece to pace the Gators, while Wood now has 11 points.
Condon went down hard at one point trying to grab a defensive rebound; he was slow to get up, but appears to be fine.
Florida pushes lead to 10 at the 7:37 mark
08:29 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Aberdeen makes his first 3-pointer of the season with under 10 minutes remaining in the half while Haugh drains a jumper and Fland makes a layup to push the score to 29-19 with just over seven and a half minutes remaining in the half.
Chinyelu is now the game's leading scorer with nine points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting while draining his lone free-throw attempt. Florida is shooting 50% (11-for-22) overall and 37.5% (3-for-8) from beyond the arc and have missed just one of its five FT attempts.
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Florida leads by 6 at 11:46 mark
08:20 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Following the media timeout, Condon drained a couple of free throws and Chinyelu earned a 3-point play on an and-1, bookending a layup by Wood to extend the lead to 18-12. Wood still leads all scorers with six points now, while Condon's five pace the Orange and Blue.
Both teams continue to shoot well from the floor overall, but Jacksonville has yet to make a 3-pointer in four attempts.
Gators up by 3 at first media break
08:14 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
With 13:17 remaining in the first half, Florida leads, 13-10, thanks to a balanced attack so far. Klavžar and Haugh both have three points apiece to lead the home team's attack, while Hayden Wood has a game-high four points for the visitors.
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The Gators are shooting 50% (5-for-10) from the field overall and 40% (2-for-5) from beyond the arc, while the Dolphins are 44.4% (4-for-9) with three missed 3-point attempts.
GAME ON! Florida wins the opening tipoff
08:03 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
And we're off! Rueben Chinyelu scores the game's first points on a layup on the right side of the basket.
Florida vs Jacksonville starting lineups
07:46 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
FLORIDA GATORS
| POS |
# |
NAME |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
| G |
0 |
Boogie Fland |
12 |
3 |
4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G |
1 |
Denzel Aberdeen |
7 |
0 |
2 |
| F |
10 |
Thomas Haugh |
19 |
10 |
4 |
| F |
21 |
Alex Condon |
11 |
7 |
3 |
| C |
9 |
Rueben Chinyelu |
6 |
14 |
3 |
JACKSONVILLE DOLPHINS
| POS |
# |
NAME |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
| G |
0 |
Jamie Phillips Jr. |
18 |
2 |
1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G |
1 |
Caleb Williams |
10 |
6 |
6 |
| G |
8 |
Hayden Wood |
11 |
6 |
0 |
| F |
22 |
James Morrow |
12 |
2 |
0 |
| C |
35 |
Samuel Mbingazo |
3 |
8 |
2 |
Florida's uniforms vs Jacksonville
07:20 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Gators arriving at the O'Dome
06:41 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
Florida vs. Jacksonville prediction, pick
06:30 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
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The Gators looked good against the Hurricanes on Monday night, with much-improved outside shooting — which was their Achilles heel last season. Todd Golden's gang looked strong in every aspect of the game except for free-throw shooting, which was a thorn in the side of the team during the preseason.
Efficiency from the charity stripe aside, this Florida team already looks locked in and poses a blowout threat to Thursday night's visitors. I expect not only a double-digit victory, but a complete dismantling of the Dolphins.
PREDICTION: Florida 101, Jacksonville 65
Florida vs. Jacksonville betting odds, money line, over/under
06:15 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
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Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Thursday, Nov. 5
-
Moneyline: +3300 / -10000
-
Spread: Florida by 35.5
-
Over/under: 155.5
How to watch Florida vs Jacksonville: TV channel, streaming info
06:05 PM ET, November 5 2026, Adam Dubbin
-
TV Channel: SEC Network+
-
Livestream: ESPN+
Florida vs. Jacksonville will be broadcast nationally on the SEC Network+ on Thursday, Nov. 5. Ryan Urquhart and Mark Wise will call the game from the O'Connell Center. Streaming options for the game include ESPN+ .
Stream Florida vs. Jacksonville with ESPN+
This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Final score, recap, highlights from Florida's win over Jacksonville
