Florida basketball earned its first victory of the 2025-26 campaign on Thursday night with a 104-64 thrashing of the UNF Ospreys. The triumph came in the Gators’ home opener inside the O’Connell Center, where their national championship banner was hung before tipoff.
While the final score reflects a vast gulf between the two programs’ talent levels, the visitors actually hung tough for a good portion of the game. The squad struggled from the perimeter — particularly beyond the arc — but their inside game remained dominant, wearing down the Ospreys in the paint on both offense and defense.
Following Thursday night’s victory, Todd Golden spoke with the press about his team’s performance and the debut of Olivier Rioux. Take a look at what he had to say below.
Todd Golden’s opening statement
“Really pleased with our guys’ effort tonight. Obviously, we didn’t shoot the ball very well. We were sloppy with the ball in the second half. We talked a lot about coming back with great energy, and playing with a lot of intent after Monday night.
“This is a team, we expect to win this game, but at the same time they provide some challenges with the way they play offensively. They want to spread you out. I thought the guys executed the game plan that Coach Carlin Hartman put together really well. We wanted to limit their catch-and-shoot opportunities. We held them to two assists the other night. That’s something we were really pleased with.
“Great job on the glass as we talked about after the game on Monday. The area that we were really disappointed about was that we got beat on the boards on Monday night. That was the night the case tonight. We imposed our wills. We did a good job there. Another night with over 20 assists. We did not shoot it well.
“Obviously, a lot of threes are usually catch-and-shoots that turn into assists. We didn’t get a lot of those but we were still able to have a one and a half assist to turnover. Again really pleased overall with the effort and the way our guys played. We tried to play a lot of different guys tonight. We had some interesting lineups out there at times. I’m pleased with the victory.”
On Alex Condon’s play and the way he bounced back
“I thought he was great. Coming back from Vegas we took Tuesday off and practiced yesterday. He just had a great mentality. He wasn’t feeling sorry for himself and making excuses. He was just let me get back to it. Get back to what I know.
“I thought he did a great job of letting the game come to him, being aggressive when he needed to and had obviously a very efficient night. He had 25 (points) and 10 (rebounds), four assists, only one turnover and two steals. I mean this is an insane All-American level type of night. We were all disappointed with how Monday went but I thought he answered the bell.”
On how satisfying a bounce-back performance was
“It’s satisfying but I don’t want to say, it’s expected, but it’s what we need to be if we want to be really good. When we play teams that don’t have the depth or the size and physicality and front line that we do we have to impose our will. I thought our guys did a good job of that.”
On Handlogten opening with two really good games
“Micah is a great player. He didn’t get as many opportunities as last year late in the season. As I’ve said a million times, we don’t win a championship without him. He’s had an incredible offseason. He got himself in the best shape he has been in for his whole entire life. He is playing incredibly well right now.
“He’s 17 and 13 in 18 minutes he’s very good with the ball. Keeps it in our offense and does a great job. He’s probably a top three or four offensive rebounder in the country. That might not be giving him enough credit. He just does a great job of creating second chances for us. He has become an even better player prior to the injury. He is one of the best big man in America in terms of centers.”
On the decision-making process to play Olivier Rioux
“I mean, listen, he’s, you know, put in a lot of great work and to his credit, he’s kept a great attitude without getting a lot of reward in terms of playing time and opportunity. And, you know, he went into this year knowing that, you know, our ability to get the frontcourt to come back was going to limit his opportunities and, you know, I talked to the guys at halftime, you know, when we’re up 24 and I expressed to them the importance of getting off to a really good start so we can get some of the younger guys and some of the guys from down on the bench an opportunity to play and to get some reps.
“Obviously, the game was in our control and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get him out there and get his first college experience, and I think he was pretty excited. It was pretty neat for him to finally see the floor. I would have liked him to get a touch, but (Viktor Mikic) was kind of cooking out there and some other guys were getting some shots and, you know, they played the right way on him, and it’ll happen for them, but excited for him to kind of finally get the opportunity to play in a game.”
What Rioux is thinking when fans are chanting his name
“We were talking at halftime about playing him, I said it will happen, the time will come. I can be stubborn, you know, I don’t listen to directions very well at times. So when they’re yelling at me to do it, it kind of, ‘Alright, maybe I’ll wait a little longer’. There’s a time, you know, with Ollie for right now, like, when I put him in the game, I’m not going to take him back out.
“So I want to make sure that he’s in a position where he can finish the game and not get fatigued, and I think two, three, minutes is probably the most that he can go right now without getting fatigued. So that was kind of the decision and why we waited so long to put him in.”
How cool it is to be part of college basketball history playing Rioux
“You know, cool I guess. Not something that I think that much about, you know, I like the banner dropping before better. But, you know, I’m excited. I’m happy for him that he got an opportunity to get out there tonight.”
On moment the national championship banner dropped
“Yeah, you know, it was a great kind of cap to last year. And then we had moved on quite a while ago, but this was kind of the last thing to take place, and it was surreal to be honest. Just sitting there, getting ready for the starting lineups, and they dropped the national championship banner.
“It kind of takes you back to San Antonio and a lot of thoughts run through your head, but it was awesome, man. And my hope is that, you know, as we continue on, you know, running this program that it won’t be the last one that we’ll hang.”
On Boogie Fland’s first performance in the O’Dome
“Yeah, he’s been great. I think his ball security and his organization on the offense end is really important to us. He didn’t get a full camp, he was a little banged up, and he still found ways to help us and really control the game from the point guard position. And I think his shot will come around as he’s going to start getting more comfortable and letting it rip that way, but he’s just a great point guard, you know, a guy that can just really organize a team.
“Really makes great decisions, finds guys, you know, in transition, he’s trying to hunch off for other people. You know, he’s a kind of point guard that a lot of guys love to play with, because he does a good job setting the table for them and he’s, you know, done a pretty good job defensively, plus-26 in 26 minutes.
“And again, the thing with Boogie, he’s still really young, you know, he’s 19, he was the youngest player in the SEC last year. And because of him being a Mickey D’s guy and kind of having this big persona, like, I think the expectation for him is really, really high and he’s not running from that. He’s excited about that, but you got to remember, like, he’s still finding his way in our offense. He’s still getting comfortable leading the team. And I just think he’s going to continually get better and better every opportunity he’s on the floor.”
On getting every team’s best shot this season
“We’re going to get everybody’s best shot. I think that was something that we discussed quite a bit in the preseason and talked with not only players but our staff that attempting to do what he did last year would be even more difficult this year.
“So I think we understood that coming into the season. Arizona was a disappointing outcome, but a great learning experience for us and we’re going to be able to build off that. And we were able to deal with some things that didn’t necessarily show up for us last year until we got to conference play. We didn’t play an opponent like Arizona until we went to Rupp last year.
“So that was definitely an experience that we’ll build off of. And talking about Florida State, you know, Luke (Loucks) been doing a great job. They’re playing with a lot more purpose, they’re flying the ball up the floor, shooting a lot of 3s. That’s going to be a challenging game on Tuesday night.
On Alex Lloyd’s debut
“Listen, Alex is a great player. He’s a great young man. I think he’s kind of transitioning going from being the guy in high school to realizing everybody out here is a guy. And just continuing to find some comfort zone within how he plays.
“I think when I look at Alex, Urbie, I think those guys are pressing a little bit. Just thinking they gotta make a shot to stay the court, and that’s just not the case. But I think that’s going to work itself out. I think both of those guys we’ll start shooting the ball with more confidence and shoot it better.
“But Lloyd is a super talented young man, and I think if he continues working the way he has and allowing us to coach him the way we have, I think he’s going to be a not just a good player. I think he’s going to be a phenomenal player. He’s a great talent, and he’s got a lot of great basketball ahead of him.”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball’s Todd Goldentalks after home-opening win vs UNF
