It was just a consolation game in a relatively meaningless holiday tournament, but Gators guard Xaivian Lee used the occasion to dig out of his shooting slump. 

Lee entered Saturday’s matchup with Providence College in a serious funk. In his first six games as a member of the defending national champion Gators, the Princeton transfer had made only 22 percent of his shots from the floor and was a nightmarish .167 from the three-point arc. 

But Saturday, Lee scored a game- and season-high 20 points and knocked down four of his nine three-point attempts to pace No. 10 Florida to a 90-78 win over Providence in the consolation game of the Rady Children's Invitational in San Diego. 

With 5-2 Florida’s next two games coming on the road against No. 4 Duke (Tuesday) and No. 5 Connecticut (Dec. 9), Lee’s breakout performance couldn’t have come at a better time.  

“I’ve been waiting for this, trying to be patient,” said the 6-foot-4 Lee. “Obviously it’s been a little bit of a struggle. But my teammates love me, and they have full confidence in me and that makes it easy for me to go out there and play free. I’m happy it went well today.” 

Lee shot 7-of-16 from the floor (.437), pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. His starting backcourt companion Boogie Fland, who had also been struggling to find his scoring touch, helped lift the Gators to arguably their best offensive showing of the young season. Fland added 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting, including four three pointers of his own on 10 attempts. 

With the consistent play of reserve guard Urban Klavzar, who had 18 points and three 3s, Florida’s trio of perimeter shooters combined for a season-best output of 55 points. 

Friday’s win over Providence (4-4) was a crucial bounce-back for the Gators. In Thursday’s tournament-opening loss to Texas Christian, they committed 19 turnovers, blew a 10-point second half lead and fell to the Horned Frogs 84-80. Friday started out equally sloppy for Florida, with four turnovers in the first five minutes. But the Gators cleaned up their performance from that point and had no turnovers until the final six minutes of play, where they comitted their final four. 

“A big part of our discussion yesterday and this morning was ‘take care of the basketball,’ ” said Gators coach Todd Golden. “It’s been a huge Achilles heel for us all year, and credit to our players. I thought they stepped up and did a wonderful job. 

“That (fewer turnovers) was the difference. We still fouled too much (21 total team fouls) and that’s an area still need to continue to address, but (accomplishing) one out of two on our big goals led to a big win for us today.” 

Florida once again had solid production from the frontcourt tandem of Rueben Chenyelu and Thomas Haugh. Despite some early foul trouble, Haugh had 16 points, including 9-of-11 shooting from the free throw line, and 12 rebounds. Six of Haugh’s boards came on offense. Chenyelu, whose foul troubles came late in the game, also had a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 boards. 

Florida played the game without 6-11 forward Alex Condon. According to a Gators spokesperson, Condon was hit in the chin during the Gators’ loss to TCU and was held out of the Providence game Fridaay for precautionary reasons. The injury came on a layup by Reuben Chinyelu, who made accidental contact with Condon on the play. 

Points: Xaivian Lee, 20

Rebounds: Thomas Haugh, 12

Assists: Xaivian Lee, 4

Box Score

All times Eastern

ARIZONA 93, GATORS 87
Record: 0-1

GATORS 104, NORTH FLORIDA 64
Record: 1-1

GATORS 78, FLORIDA STATE 76
Record: 2-1

GATORS 82, MIAMI 68
Record: 3-1

GATORS 80, MERRIMACK 45
Record: 4-1

TCU 84, GATORS 80
Record: 4-2

GATORS 90, PROVIDENCE 78
Record: 5-2

DUKE
Dec. 2 (Tue) Time: 7:30 p.m.
@ Durham, N.C.
TV: ESPN

UCONN
Dec. 9 (Tue) Time: 9 p.m.
@ New York
TV: ESPN

GEORGE WASHINGTON
Dec. 13 (Sat) Time: 2:30 p.m.
@ Sunrise, Fla.
TV: ESPN2

ST. FRANCIS
Dec. 17 (Wed) Time: 6:30 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.TV: SEC/ESPN

COLGATE
Dec. 21 (Sun) Time: Noon
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC/ESPN+

DARTMOUTH
Dec. 29 (Mon) Time: 6 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC/ESPN

MISSOURI
Jan. 3 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.
@ Columbia, Mo.
TV: SEC/ESPN

GEORGIA
Jan. 6 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC/ESPN

TENNESSEE
Jan. 10 (Sat) Time: noon
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

OKLAHOMA
Jan. 13 (Tue) Time: 9 p.m.
@ Norman, Okla.
TV: ESPN or ESPNU

VANDERBILT
Jan. 17 (Sat) Time: 2 p.m.
@ Nashville, Tenn.
TV: ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPNU

LSU
Jan. 20 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.
@ Gainesville
TV: ESPN2

AUBURN
Jan. 24 (Sat) Time: 4 or 4:30 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

SOUTH CAROLINA
Jan. 28 (Wed) Time: 9 p.m.
@ Columbia, S.C.
TV: SEC/ESPN

ALABAMA
Feb. 1 (Sun) Time: 1 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ABC

TEXAS A&M
Feb. 7 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.
@ College Station, Texas
TV: SEC/ESPN

GEORGIA
Feb. 11 (Wed) Time: 7 p.m.
@ Athens, Ga.
TV: ESPN2 or ESPNU

KENTUCKY
Feb. 14 (Sat) Time: 3 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ABC

SOUTH CAROLINA
Feb. 17 (Tue) Time: 7 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC/ESPN

OLE MISS
Feb. 21 (Sat) Time: noon
@ Oxford, Miss.
V: ESPN or ESPN2

TEXAS
Feb. 25 (Wed) Time: 7 p.m.
@ Austin, Texas
TV: ESPN2 or ESPNU

ARKANSAS
Feb. 28 (Sat) Time: 8:30 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

MISSISSIPPI STATE
March 3 (Tue) Time: 8 p.m.
@ Gainesville, Fla.
TV: SEC/ESPN

KENTUCKY
March 7 (Sat) Time: 4 p.m.
@ Lexington, Ky.
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

SEC TOURNAMENT
March 11-15
@Nashville, Tenn.