Florida did not walk into Cameron Indoor Stadium looking like a defending champion clinging to its title. The Gators arrived prepared, composed and ready to go possession for possession with Duke. That shaped the tone of Todd Golden’s postgame session. He was steady, firm and clear about both the positives and the frustrations behind a 67-66 loss.
“We gave our best effort of the year tonight” Golden said. “We dominated the second half. Outscored them by 11. Beat them by 11 on the boards. We played a good game.”
Golden made sure the context was understood.
“This is not an MTE (multiple team event) against a random high major team” he said. “We came into Cameron playing one of the best teams in the country. And we lost by one.”
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For the defending national champions the issue was not the setting. It was the small collection of moments that decided it.
Golden pointed to the flagrang foul on Maliq Brown, the loose ball that extended a Duke possession and the final defensive lapse that freed Isaiah Evans in the corner.
“Those are really tough to swallow in a game like this” he said. “Two or three of them.”
Still, Golden did not question the response from his group. “Our competitiveness is not something I ever worry about” he said. “We have been competing hard. Tonight we executed well enough to win.”
When a question pointed toward inconsistency Golden responded with a sharper tone.
“You have to understand basketball, dude. We are not playing a Juco team. Duke is good.”
He highlighted the individual fight as well.“Boog (Boogie Fland) scored our last four field goals” Golden said. “He stayed the course. He played well.”
Florida leaves Cameron at 5-3 with a loss that felt more like a missed opportunity than a setback. Golden saw the urgency and the growth. Now he needs the defending champions to finish the games they control.
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