It’s funny how quickly things can shift in college basketball. Todd Golden’s Gators are only nine games into the season, yet they have already racked up as many losses as they did all of last season. And this one was another game they had every chance to win, but as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.

The main event of this year’s Jimmy V Classic was the showdown between the last two national champions, and UConn got its revenge for last season’s second-round loss with a 77–73 win. But if you ask Todd Golden, he’ll tell you the refs had a huge hand in shaping how this game turned out.

“I thought they called it early, man, to be honest. I challenge everybody to time it and see what they come up with. We timed it in the locker room, and we got 4.6 and 4.7,” Golden said in the post-game press conference.

“I’ve been around the game for a long time, to get a call like that where it doesn’t even get to 5 seconds — usually they give you an extra second, to be honest. Just a really, really tough pill to swallow.”

Against UConn, the Gators found themselves down seven with under a minute to play, but they refused to fold. They clawed their way back and cut the lead to three with nine seconds left. Then came the moment every fan dreams about. Florida forced a turnover and suddenly had one last shot to send the game into overtime.

As Florida guard Boogie Fland was attempting to inbound the ball with less than 10 seconds on the game clock, he was called for a five-second violation. It was frustrating for Todd Golden as this call effectively sealed the victory for Dan Hurley’s men, and the Gators had lost another close game.

To put things into perspective, the four games the Gators have lost this season have been decided by a combined total of just 15 points. The six-point loss to now–No. 1 Arizona came after Florida missed a game-tying three with 30 seconds left. The one-point loss to Duke stung even more, as the Gators were up by two with 25 seconds remaining before giving up a go-ahead three.

And now, the UConn game joins that list. At the end of the day, officials are human, and their timing won’t always be perfect. But if Fland’s inbound attempt was really cut short by a quarter of a second, as Todd Golden believes, you can understand his frustration. Losing back-to-back games on razor-thin margins stings a lot.

That said, a big part of the Gators’ problems actually traces back to what they did in the portal this offseason.

Was Todd Golden Right to Add Xaivian Lee to the Roster?

The Gators lost a big chunk of their championship-winning core from last season. Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard all turned pro, and Denzel Aberdeen decided to enter the portal, leaving Florida almost empty in the backcourt. To address that, Todd Golden turned to the portal himself and brought in Princeton star Xaivian Lee to run the point.

But that move hasn’t paid off yet. Lee is averaging 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting a lowly 26.3 percent from the field. Against UConn, however, he delivered what Todd Golden called his best game as a Gator, finishing with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.

But his shooting remained a major concern. Lee struggled again from the perimeter, hitting just one of his seven attempts (14.3%). It was already his fifth game shooting under 20 percent from three, and through nine games, he’s averaging just 20.3 percent from deep.

Lee himself knows his shooting has to improve. “I need to start making some [expletive] shots, that’s what I need to do,” Lee said in the postgame press conference. “When I start making shots, we’re going to be so [expletive] good. Not to put pressure on myself, but it’s true.”

It remains to be seen whether Lee can truly come good for Golden this season. The backcourt has been a concern for the Gators, and Arkansas transfer Boogie Fland has had his struggles, too. If that group doesn’t start trending upward soon, it could become a real problem for Golden, especially with Florida already off to a rough 5–4 start.

But given Todd Golden’s track record and the way these losses have unfolded, you can expect him to sort this mess out sooner rather than later.