Thomas Haugh's 21-Point Double-Double Lifts No. 1 Florida Past Florida State 81-72

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Thomas Haugh caught the ball on the wing with 13 seconds left in the first half, a packed Tucker Center on its feet, and Florida State suddenly in front. Then he rose up from 27 feet and put No. 1 Florida back where it spent most of the night: ahead.

Haugh finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, went 10 of 12 at the line and never turned the ball over, and the Gators used 41 free throw attempts to hold off Florida State 81-72 in their first true road game of the season. Florida is 3-0. The Seminoles fall to 2-1 in front of 11,500 at Tucker Center.

The Gators did not shoot it well. They went 21 of 51 from the field and 9 of 28 from 3, scored zero fast-break points and were outscored 32-20 in the paint. They still won, because they won the glass 41-29, because they went 30 of 41 at the line, and because Haugh kept answering every time the Seminoles got close.

A Tight First Half, Then a Late Dart

Boogie Fland opened the scoring with a 23-foot 3 from Denzel Aberdeen, and the first 10 minutes felt like a rivalry game that refused to breathe. Florida State took its largest lead at 13-8 when Anthony Robinson II made three free throws at the 11:26 mark. Aberdeen tied it at 13 with a 23-footer from Domen Petrovic. Haugh's first 3, off a Fland feed at 8:30, put Florida in front 17-15, and a Rueben Chinyelu tip-in at 4:49 stretched the lead to 25-19.

The Seminoles punched back. Robinson and Kam Taylor scored on consecutive possessions, Alex Steen finished a layup, and Sebastian Rancik dropped in a 12-foot hook with 39 seconds left to give Florida State a 29-28 lead. It was the Seminoles' last lead of the night. Haugh's 27-footer beat the half and sent Florida to the locker room up 31-29.

Florida State missed all nine of its 3-point attempts before the break, according to the ESPN play-by-play, and still trailed by only two.

Haugh Punches a Hole in It

The second half started the way Florida needed it to. Haugh drained another 23-footer from Fland 34 seconds in, then threw down a 2-foot dunk off another Fland assist at 18:22 to make it 37-29, the Gators' largest lead to that point.

Florida State did not go away. Shon Abaev finally made a 3, Rancik hit two free throws, and Taylor dunked off a Robinson pass to pull the Seminoles within 37-36. Florida answered with a 7-0 burst, capped by an Isaiah Brown 3 from Aberdeen at 13:46 that made it 44-36. Rancik later hit a 27-footer from Steen at 8:59 to make it 51-47, the last time the margin was a single possession.

Urban Klavzar, who had missed his first six 3s, knocked down a 25-footer from Alex Condon at 6:15 to make it 57-50, then went to the line and made all five of his free throws over the next 75 seconds. That sequence, plus a Fland layup at 4:28, built a 64-54 cushion.

The Free Throw Game Holds

Rancik scored or was fouled on almost every late Seminoles possession. He made a floater and a free throw to cut it to 64-57 with 3:36 left, the moment the game felt like it might tilt. Haugh went back to the line and made four free throws in a 36-second span, the last two coming at 2:31 after Abaev picked up his fifth foul, and the lead was 68-57.

Robinson was not finished. He hit a 24-footer at 1:12 and a 27-footer at 0:50 to make it 76-70. Taylor added a 12-foot pullup at 0:26 to get Florida State within 78-72. That was as close as it got. Aberdeen and Condon closed it at the line, and Florida walked out of Tallahassee with an 81-72 win and a sixth straight victory in the series.

Haugh, Fland and the Extras

Haugh's line was the one that mattered: 21 points on 4 of 8 shooting, 3 of 6 from 3, 10 of 12 at the line, 10 rebounds, one steal, one block and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. It was his second double-double of the young season, after 19 points and 10 rebounds in the opener against then-No. 14 Miami.

Fland finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes and had the two feeds that started the second half surge. Klavzar scored 10 points without making a field goal until that late 3, going 7 of 7 at the line. Brown added nine points off the bench, including two 3s. Condon had nine points and 10 rebounds but went 1 of 5 at the line and committed five turnovers. Chinyelu scored eight with six rebounds.

Aberdeen went 2 of 9 from the field and 1 of 4 from 3 for seven points. He still had the tying 3 in the first half and the two free throws that all but ended it.

Rancik and Robinson Carry Florida State

Rancik led all scorers with 23 points on 8 of 17 shooting, adding five rebounds. Robinson had 19 points, made both of his late 3s and went 5 of 5 at the line. They did not get enough help. Abaev scored 10 points on 3 of 12 shooting and fouled out. Taylor also had 10, with three steals, and also finished with five fouls. As a team, Florida State shot 4 of 21 from 3 and committed 27 fouls, which is how Florida ended up at the line 41 times.

The Seminoles actually won some of the style points. They had 17 points off 14 Florida turnovers, 32 points in the paint and eight steals. They just could not make enough 3s, and they could not get the stops they needed when Haugh and Klavzar went to the line in the last six minutes.

What It Means

For Florida, this was the first true road test, after a neutral-site win over Miami in Tampa and a home win over Jacksonville. The Gators now have beaten three in-state opponents to start 3-0, and they have done it without a pretty shooting night. They led for 83 percent of the game, with eight lead changes, according to ESPN, and they closed it the hard way.

Florida entered the night leading the series 48-29 and riding a five-game winning streak against the Seminoles, including last season's 78-76 escape in Gainesville, per the Gators' official game notes. The sixth straight win was less dramatic than that one, but it was not easy, and it was not supposed to be. Todd Golden's team now comes home to face Merrimack on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

For Florida State, a 2-0 start ran into the top-ranked team in the country and came up nine points short. Rancik and Robinson gave the Seminoles a chance. The 3-point shooting and the foul trouble did not.

For the full numbers, see the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and play-by-play (opens in a new tab), plus Florida's game center (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN, Florida Athletics. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Bryce Walker / UAA Communications (file photo from Nov. 5, 2026, vs. Jacksonville)