Thomas Haugh's 19 Points and 10 Rebounds Lead No. 1 Florida Past No. 14 Miami 77-67 in Physical Season Opener in Tampa

Top-ranked Florida opened its men's basketball season with a 77-67 win over No. 14 Miami on Monday night at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, as senior forward Thomas Haugh posted 19 points and 10 rebounds against the in-state rival. The neutral-site game drew 15,324 fans and turned into a physical contest that included two technical fouls and three fouls upgraded to flagrants, according to the Associated Press.

Rueben Chinyelu added six points and 14 rebounds for the Gators, and Acaden Lewis, a transfer from Villanova, scored 24 points in his first game for the Hurricanes. Florida led for most of the night and never trailed after a 9-0 run midway through the first half.

Haugh delivers as the preseason SEC Player of the Year

Haugh, the 6-foot-9 senior chosen as the preseason Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, was dominant from start to finish, the AP wrote, noting he likely would have been an NBA lottery pick had he left school. He made 6 of 13 shots, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, and played 38 minutes without a turnover. He also grabbed five offensive rebounds and added four assists, two steals and a block, according to the ESPN box score.

The first half was tight early. Miami led 17-15 after a Brent Bland layup with about 12 minutes left before halftime, and there were five lead changes in the game. Florida then took over with a 9-0 burst built on a 3-pointer by Brown, a three-point play by Denzel Aberdeen and a 3 from Fland. Haugh hit three 3-pointers in the half, two of them in the final seven and a half minutes.

His teammates covered for the moments when he missed. Late in the first half, Isaiah Brown followed a Haugh miss with a putback dunk that gave Florida a 44-32 lead, and the Gators took a 46-36 advantage into halftime. Seconds after Brown's dunk, officials assessed technical fouls on both teams, an early sign of the game's tone.

Alex Condon added 11 points and seven rebounds, and guard Boogie Fland scored 12 with four assists and four steals, getting most of his production at the line, where he made 6 of 10 free throws. Urban Klavzar scored nine off the bench, and Domen Petrovic made two 3-pointers for six points.

Miami's rally and Florida's answer

Miami came out of halftime on a quick run, with Henderson, Cyril and two Lewis jumpers trimming the deficit to 46-43 inside the first three minutes, according to the ESPN play-by-play. Malik Reneau's 3-pointer made it 48-46, but Haugh answered with a 3 and Condon followed with a driving layup. The Hurricanes cut the deficit to 53-51 when Cyril followed a missed free throw with a dunk, according to the AP.

That was as close as Miami would get. Petrovic and Fland hit back-to-back 3-pointers within about a minute to restore an eight-point lead, and Cyril's dunks and free throws kept the Hurricanes in range only briefly.

Florida responded with defense, holding Miami without a field goal for about five minutes. Klavzar's 3-pointer during that stretch pushed the lead to 66-55 with 10:16 left. Miami got within seven at 69-62 with about four and a half minutes to play, but Haugh's layup and a string of Fland free throws closed it out. Both teams scored 31 points in the second half.

The team statistics show how Florida won a game in which it shot just 57 percent at the free-throw line, making 20 of 35. The Gators shot 43 percent from the field and 11 of 26 from 3-point range, while Miami shot 35 percent overall and made only 4 of 17 from deep. Florida outrebounded Miami 44-39 and scored 21 points off turnovers to Miami's seven.

A side-by-side look at the key numbers from the ESPN box score:

Lewis shines in his Hurricanes debut

Lewis carried Miami's offense, making 9 of 20 shots and 4 of 5 free throws in 36 minutes. Cyril was efficient inside, scoring 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds. But the Hurricanes struggled to generate offense beyond those two. Shelton Henderson made 2 of 13 shots despite nine rebounds, Malik Reneau scored five, and the team finished with only six assists.

Miami did make Florida work on the glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds, and it got to the line 30 times. Chinyelu, who blocked three shots, finished with five fouls and Condon with four, and the game's physicality was obvious throughout. The AP described Florida's win as one built on muscle and effort.

A return to the site of March's heartbreak

The venue carried some history for Florida. The last time the Gators played at Benchmark International Arena, they lost 73-72 to ninth-seeded Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 22, two days after routing Prairie View A&M 114-55 in the first round, according to the team's schedule. That loss ended the season for a program that won the 2025 national championship.

Florida has kept much of its roster nucleus together over multiple years, the AP noted, and the result is a preseason No. 1 ranking. Coach Todd Golden's team went 1-1 in exhibitions, losing to Baylor 82-76 in overtime on Oct. 18 and beating Stetson 85-68 on Oct. 27. The program also announced Monday that the Naismith Trophy had named three Gators to its Player of the Year watch list.

Why this one mattered in Florida

Florida and Miami do not share a conference, so a nonconference opener between two ranked in-state programs gave both fan bases an early measuring stick, played on neutral ground in Tampa. For Miami, a respectable showing against the nation's No. 1 team offered something to build on despite the loss. For Florida, it was a first test passed against a ranked opponent before the schedule turns to home games and the in-state trip to Tallahassee.

What's next

Florida hosts Jacksonville on Thursday night, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m., then visits Florida State on Nov. 10 for another in-state matchup. The Gators host Merrimack on Nov. 13 before facing Notre Dame on Nov. 17 and either Houston or Rutgers on Nov. 18, according to the team's schedule.

Miami returns home to host Wagner on Friday night, Nov. 6, looking for its first win of the season.