Florida Basketball’s repeat bid sees them enter the 2026-27 season as one of the favorites to win the national championship. However, Sunday’s exhibition loss to Baylor exposed some flaws that Florida will need to clean up before the season begins. The Gators fell short, 82-76 in overtime. This exhibition was played before Florida was officially ranked No.1 by the AP poll.
An October loss should not be factored too heavily in determining a team’s success. However, offensive struggles, defensive breakdowns, and losing the rebounding battle give Florida Head Coach Todd Golden areas to improve on before the season starts. The Gators have high expectations this year, but their exhibition against Baylor gave them the foundation for what they need to improve to reach their championship hopes.
Florida Basketball Needs More Offensive Production
Florida needs more consistent offensive production to maintain its goal of bringing another championship to Gainesville. In a hard-fought first half, the Gators found themselves in a cold shooting slump. In this period, they went just over seven minutes without scoring. Kentucky transfer Denzel Aberdeen ended the contest with 15 points, including a shot to force OT. Unfortunately, his performance also included shooting 3-for-17 from the field and 0-for-10 from three.
The Gators’ starting five tried to maintain resilience through the exhibition, but the second unit let them down. The bench converted on 1-of-14 shot attempts. The only make came off a three. Golden needs to find reliable scorers in his rotational players to become more dangerous. If Florida is unable to score the ball for extended periods of time, more pressure is then placed on their defense to play to perfection. The stationary offense forces the defense; it takes away the team’s chances at gaining momentum and forces the defense to work even harder.
Florida’s Thomas Haugh will be a critical piece of the team’s offense this year. But there have to be more scoring around Florida’s likely MVP. Improved production from supporting pieces would allow Haugh and other starters to play with more confidence and tire themselves out less trying to carry the entire offense.
Defensive Discipline Must Improve for Florida Basketball
Florida struggled to contain the Baylor guards on the perimeter. Penn State transfer Kayden Mingo was able to take advantage of Florida’s defensive breakdowns and finished the preseason matchup with 31 points, 4 assists on 9-of-15 from the field all in 39 minutes of action. Mingo was able to beat defenders off the bounce, which helped him get easy looks for himself and his teammates.
Baylor’s offense was able to beat their defenders and create straight-line drive opportunities. This contributed to Florida’s defensive breakdowns. Defenders were then forced to scramble and rotate in order to try to put themselves in a better position to help. Florida picked up unnecessary fouls as a result.
The Bears made the Gators pay on defense as they were able to convert on 25-for-32 from the line. The Bears were able to catch fire and shoot 52% from the field in the second half.
Golden and the Gators need to prioritize disrupting their opponents’ offenses by relentlessly pressuring and stopping line drive attacks to the basket. This eliminates any paint touches.
Florida must reduce the amount of defensive breakdowns and unnecessary fouls. Otherwise, other teams will easily capitalize on their mistakes.
Florida Basketball Needs to Maintain Their Rebounding
The Gators were able to use their elite size to their advantage in this matchup. They controlled the boards, winning the battle 25-13 in the first half. Unfortunately, Florida was not able to sustain this intensity on the boards in the second half of play. Baylor outrebounded them in the second half. This then gave the Bears the momentum they needed to come out on top. Florida needs to use their physicality and size to their advantage to help them win the rebounding battle for all 40 minutes.
Being able to secure rebounds not only limits their opponents’ possessions, but it gives Florida some form of momentum they can build off of. They can then turn rebounds into easy transition points. The Gators need to look to maximize the speed of their guards to push the pace of the game. They need to use their athleticism to their advantage to be able to maintain this level of effort.
The Last Word
Florida Basketball’s recent exhibition loss to Baylor gives Golden specific areas of need to address before the season kicks off. Reliable scoring, disciplined defense, and dominating the boards for all 40 minutes are critical aspects of the game Florida needs to improve on to help them reach their goal of winning another championship with this core group. Once again, it is only October, and this should not be any reason to panic for Florida. An exhibition loss does not define a team’s success. The Gators take on Stetson on October 27th, giving them another opportunity to grow before the season starts.
Featured Image: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
More Basketball News:
3 Tennessee Basketball Takeaways From Exhibition Loss vs Xavier