The No. 1-ranked Florida Gators opened their season Monday night in Gainesville with a 77-67 win over No. 14 Miami, and it was the reserves — not the starters — who turned a two-point deficit into a statement, floridagators.com reported.
The first substitution came three-plus minutes in, with Florida trailing by two. Coach Todd Golden called for guard Urban Klavzar, the 2026 Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year, and 6-foot-9, 230-pound Slovenian rookie forward Domen Petrovic — a pairing Klavzar said he didn’t expect: “I didn’t know we would go into the game as the first two subs.” Petrovic, in his first college game, was not scared of the moment, Klavzar said. “I was so proud of the confidence he played with.”
What the Bench Delivered Against Miami
- Florida’s reserves scored 22 points with a plus-23 scoring differential in 44 minutes — after managing just seven points at a minus-5 over 90 minutes in two preseason games.
- Domen Petrovic hit the first shot of his career, a 3-pointer 12 seconds after entering, to give the Gators the lead; he finished with six points, three rebounds and a drawn charge in 11 minutes.
- Isaiah Brown was even better: seven points, three rebounds and a plus-16 in just 13 minutes, including a corner 3 that sparked a nine-point run and a putback dunk that built a 10-point halftime cushion.
Petrovic’s First Shot Swishes 14:49 and Counting
During the second Miami possession he defended, Petrovic secured a transition rebound between two Hurricanes, protecting the ball in traffic and drawing a foul. Twelve seconds later, with the clock at 14:50 in the UF halfcourt, he caught a pass on the right wing and launched a 3-point attempt — the first shot of his career — and swished it to put Florida ahead. “I try to play with the attitude that every shot is the same,” Petrovic said after the win. “I’ve taken millions of those shots in practice and I know my coaches and teammates trust me with that shot. That’s why I felt so comfortable just stepping up and taking it.”
In his first game as a Gator, Petrovic closed with six points, three rebounds, a charge drawn, zero turnovers across 11 minutes and strong on-ball defense — supporting the coaching staff’s choice to give him the first regular-season opportunity at the eighth spot in the rotation.
Brown’s 13 Minutes That Sealed the Lead for Good
As poised as Petrovic proved, Brown was even better. The 6-5 wing was the third sub, checking in at the 13:17 mark of the opening half. Less than two minutes after entering, he created a defensive tie-up and hit a second-chance 3-pointer from the corner that ignited a stretch of nine straight points, putting the Gators ahead permanently. During the last two minutes of the half, Brown attacked the offensive boards from the baseline and dunked a missed floater by Thomas Haugh, then converted two free throws at the 1:02 mark to carry UF into halftime ahead by 10.
Brown ended with seven points — making both of his field-goal attempts, his only 3 and both free throws — three rebounds and a remarkable plus-16 across 13 minutes, said Brown, who had been largely invisible in the preseason games against Baylor (82-76 overtime loss at Jacksonville) and Stetson (85-68 win at home), totaling one point and two rebounds over 25 combined minutes. “I played with a clear mind and a belief in everything I had to do,” “My mindset was, no matter what I do, just do it by giving my all. Every play.”
Brown took particular note of Golden’s pregame refrain — “Don’t be afraid to fail” — to play instinctively but also smart. “He was absolutely awesome,” Golden said. “We’d been really — I don’t know if I would say — hard on Isaiah, but we have challenged him a lot because he gave us such a great season last year that we built this team planning on him playing a very important role. He just hadn’t played his best in the exhibition games. We knew it would eventually show up.”
How UF’s Four Reserves Fared Monday Night
| Reserve | Minutes | Stats | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Brown (guard) | 13 | 7 pts, 3 reb, 0 turn (2-2 floor, 1-1 arc, 1-1 FT) | plus-16 |
| Urban Klavzar (guard) | 19 | 9 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 turn (3-7 floor, 2-6 arc, 1-2 FT) | plus-9 |
| Domen Petrovic (forward) | 11 | 6 pts, 3 reb, 0 turn | 0 |
| Arturas Butajevas (forward) | 1 | 0 pts, 0 reb, 1 turn | minus-2 |
| Total | 44 | 22 points, 8 reb, 1 ast, 2 turn | plus-23 |
Why Golden’s “They Delivered” Matters for Thursday
The staff gauges its subs by which way the scoreboard goes when they’re in the game, and Brown’s impact allowed UF to outpoint a deep, talented Miami team by 16 in so few minutes. “They got some criticism in the preseason. I was criticizing them a little bit in the preseason and asking them for more,” Golden said. “They delivered.”
Still, Brown had a track record to fall back on — he averaged 6.6 points and 2.6 rebounds, shot better than 50% from the field and 40 from 3 during SEC play last season. Same with Klavzar, who rained in nearly 41% of his 3-point tries last season and had a 24-point outburst when he started for the injured Boogie Fland in the Stetson exhibition. They had no such local data on Petrovic, a 22-year-old international pro who played alongside Klavzar for the Slovenian national team. Though armed with a sturdy frame, Petrovic came to UF with a reputation as a shooter; he was a DNP in the Baylor exhibition and had a non-descript outing against Stetson. “Our bench didn’t really show up in those games, but we stayed at it,” Petrovic said. “We challenged ourselves.”
They’ll need to keep challenging themselves. “The goal of the bench is not come in and just hang around,” Klavzar said. “We should always try to make the team better and go on some runs. We have the ability to do that every single night.” That ability will be tested Thursday night, when the Gators (1-0) host Jacksonville (1-0) in their home opener at the O’Connell Center — a game that follows a season-opening statement built, above all, by the second unit.
