GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Thomas Haugh scored 22 points, Rueben Chinyelu had his 17th double-double of the season and No. 7 Florida earned at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title with a 111-77 romp over 20th-ranked Arkansas on Saturday night.
It tied the worst loss of Arkansas coach John Calipari's career, a 34-pointer against Duke in 2018. Calipari was with Kentucky at the time.
The Gators (23-6, 14-2 SEC) closed out an unbeaten February with their ninth consecutive win and locked up their first regular-season championship since 2014. They remained two games ahead of No. 17 Alabama with two to play and can wrap up the outright title Tuesday night at home.
But they didn’t wait to celebrate.
With a sold-out crowd and ESPN’s College GameDay on hand, Florida turned Billy Donovan Court into a party spot. Coach Todd Golden was front and center as the team doled out hats and T-shirts and cut down nets. It wasn't Golden's first time in the spotlight Saturday night, either.
Golden and Calipari got double technicals early in the second half after screaming at each other near midcourt. Calipari’s assistants pulled him away. Golden turned and riled up the 11,000-plus in attendance.
It was one of the few highlights in a game that was pretty much over early.
The Gators dominated on both ends, making plays inside and out, and built a 30-point lead with 13 minutes to play. The biggest surprises were bench players Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown. Klavzar hit his first four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, and Brown scored 11 thanks partly to two treys.
But it was Florida’s big men who controlled the tempo most of the way. Haugh, Chinyelu and Alex Condon had their way inside, helping the Gators outrebound Arkansas 51-31 and win the battle in the paint.
Billy Richmond III led the Razorbacks (21-8, 11-5) with 22 points, including 14 in the first 15 minutes. Darius Acuff Jr., who leads the SEC in scoring and assists, finished with 17 points and six assists.
Florida guard Boogie Fland, facing his former team, was one of seven Gators in double figures and helped end Calipari's six-game winning streak in Gainesville.
Florida has won six in a row against ranked teams and scored at least 90 points in each of those. It's the second-longest such streak in college basketball history. The longest mark is shared by UNLV and Loyola-Marymount, both in the 1989-90 season.
Arkansas: Hosts Texas on Wednesday night.
Florida: Hosts Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Poetry Without Borders 2026 is an annual poetry contest for youth of all ages. It is being j… Read morePoetry Without Borders 2026
“Powerful, moving, and exhilarating” Read moreSongs For A New World
Sherri Roberts Quartet with Sherri Roberts vocals, Dave Udolf piano, Chris Amberger bass, an… Read more"I'm Hip" A Tribute to the Hep-Cat Singers-Songwriters of Jazz
Exclusive film screening in San Mateo Read moreA LITTLE FELLOW: THE LEGACY OF A.P.GIANNINI
LittleFoot said:
LittleFoot said:
Trump doing Israel's bidding like a good little puppet. This guy is a legit demon.
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
CA Is Burning said:
Darwin says we should have bike lanes on highways.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.