Sophomore point guard Boogie Fland (0) lays in a run-out on his way to being one of five UF players to reach double-figure scoring in Monday night's defeat of Dartmouth.
Gators Beat Dartmouth to Wrap Pre-SEC Slate
Monday, December 29, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The rebounding competition turned out far more lopsided than the final score.
No. 22 Florida beat Dartmouth 94-72 Monday night in the team's final outing before entering Southeastern Conference play this weekend. Five different Gators reached double-figure scoring, but the eye-popping statistic was on the boards, where UF, winners of four straight, hammered the Mean Green 60-24, including 25-3 on the offensive end.
There's a reason the Gators (9-4) lead the nation in rebounding margin, a number that stood at plus-15.6 going into the game and rose to plus-17.2 coming out.
"Every time we got a shot on the rim, it's a good thing for us because we've got three guys – 6-11, 6-9, 7 feet – crashing the glass every time," said UF junior forward Alex Condon, who led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds. "The more shots we get on the rim, the better."
Junior center Rueben Chinyelu, the SEC rebound leader, posted his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards, while guard Xaivian Lee and backup guard Urban Klavzar tossed in 12 points each. Sophomore point guard Boogie Fland added 10 points and five assists.
The Gators shot 48.5% for the game and once again struggled from the 3-point line with just five makes in 18 attempts (27.8%). They defended the Mean Green (5-7) at 40.3%, but let the sharp-shooting Ivy Leaguers go 12-for-27 from the arc – including eight of 15 after intermission – and outscore the home team 45-41 in the second half.
Those second-half numbers troubled Coach Todd Golden.
"It's difficult when you win by 22, but you're disappointed … but that's just part of the threshold and expectation that we have in our program," Golden said after watching the Green hit 50% overall after the break against a defense that began the day No. 11 in the nation in efficiency. "I don't think we defended with enough attention in the second half. I didn't think we played with enough pace and enough physicality, and that's kind of the next step that we keep talking about."
Added Chinyelu: "We have to make sure that what happened [tonight] does not happen again. We will get that right."
Gators center Rueben Chinyelu(9) flushes two of his 13 points Monday.
If the game's outcome was determined by rebounds, officials may have invoked a mercy rule.
By the time Dartmouth was credited with its first offensive rebound of the game – 73 seconds into the second half – Florida was ahead by 28 points. The Green (5-7) didn't actually grab that rebound, either. It was knocked out of bounds by the Gators under the Dartmouth basket.
At the time, UF had 16 offensive caroms to Dartmouth's one and was on its way to a 32-point lead barely three minutes into the second half.
The Green grabbed their first offensive board (take a bow, Kareem Thomas) at the 17:30 mark and added one more – one – the rest of the game, but they frustrated the UF defense with six different players dropping 3s, including a 4-for-5 night from backup guard Cameron McNamee (16 points).
UF's 32-point lead was cut to as few as 21. No, the outcome was never in doubt, but that's not the point, either. Not from Golden's standpoint.
The Gators are looking for more – much more – and will need it starting Saturday night at Missouri, as they weigh into 18 consecutive games against a league that for the second year in a row is rated as the best and deepest in the nation.
"With this group, we've got to play a full 40 [minutes] and if that means winning this game by 50, that's what it means," Golden said. "We didn't do that."
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