Florida Gators guard Boogie Fland (0) gestures after making a three point basket against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Boogie Fland, Florida live up to hype in win over No. 21 Tennessee

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Jan 10, 2026 2:22 PM ET

Guard Boogie Fland and defending national champion Florida appeared to sleepwalk through the first 15 games of the 2025-26 college basketball season. They woke up on Saturday.

In a 91-67 rout of No. 21 Tennessee, the Gators finally looked like a program that won a national championship nine months ago. And Fland, who came to UF as a highly touted transfer from Arkansas, finally looked like the elite guard he was projected to be from the start of the year.

Florida's Boogie Fland struggled to start the season

Going into Saturday's contest, Fland was averaging 10.8 points per game and only seven through two SEC games. He was yet to score 20 points in a game this season, with a season-high of 18 in Florida's 78-76 win over Florida State on Nov. 11.

But the Bronx native took over Saturday's game, leading all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-6 mark from beyond the arc.

Boogie Fland.

let's keep in mind he sank a 3 right before this

ESPN pic.twitter.com/jqJ7ub3Yfv
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 10, 2026

Five other Gators — Urban Klavzar (15 points), Rueben Chinyelu (17), Thomas Haugh (13), Alex Condon (11) and Xaivian Lee (10) — also got into double figures in the victory.

Florida has now won two in a row in SEC play and has an excellent shot to move to 3-1 in conference play with a road win over Oklahoma on Jan. 13. Meanwhile, Tennessee dropped to 1-2 in the SEC with the loss and will host a scrappy Texas A&M squad on Jan. 13 in Knoxville.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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