Florida's Fland circled game against No. 20 Arkansas months ago

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Boogie Fland will have friends in every direction on the court Saturday night when No. 7 Florida hosts 20th-ranked Arkansas. Fland, who played for the Razorbacks last season, will have his current coaches and teammates on one bench and his former coaches and teammates on the other. "It's going to be very special to share a court with them again," Fland said Friday. "It was definitely circled on my calendar, just coming from there and being from there." Fland hopes it goes better than his previous reunion game, a loss in early December against UConn in New York City. Fland bought about a hundred tickets for friends and family to attend his homecoming and then had eight points, one rebound, one assist and no steals in 22 minutes before fouling out. "Just keep doing what I'm doing and keep doing what we're doing," he said. "It's another game, honestly. Just has different meaning." Florida (22-6, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) can clinch at least a share of the league's regular-season title with a victory. A win against Arkansas (21-7, 11-4) coupled with Tennessee beating Alabama would give the Gators the outright crown for the first time since 2014. That's the motivation Florida coach Todd Golden wants his guys focused on instead of Fland trying to beat his former team. "It's not about Boogie. It's not about his matchup with Arkansas," Golden said. "This is the two best teams in the league right now competing on ESPN with 'GameDay' here. There is a lot more to play for." Fland will draw arguably the toughest assignment on the floor: trying to slow down star freshman Darius Acuff Jr., who leads the league in scoring and assists. Acuff is looking to join Hall of Famer Pete Maravich as the second in SEC history to lead the league in those two categories in a single season. Acuff, who dropped 49 points in a double-overtime loss at Alabama last weekend, is averaging 22.2 points and 6.2 assists. Fland, meanwhile, ranks second in the league with 56 steals. "Very polished," Fland said of Acuff. "Respect him, but you fear none. Got to go in there with the right mentality, just go out there and do it." Fland averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 21 games with Arkansas last season. He missed two months following wrist surgery and landed in Gainesville after going through the NBA draft process. He was a big-money acquisition for the defending national champion Gators, a do-it-all point guard who was expected to help replace All-American Walter Clayton Jr. But Fland has endured shooting woes all season — he is hitting a paltry 21% from 3-point range — and ended up reshaping his approach to become more of a facilitator than a force. He has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league all season, highlighted by an eight-steal performance in a lopsided victory against then-No. 23 Alabama earlier this month. He found a bit of his long-range touch the last two games, knocking down three 3s at Ole Miss and two more at Texas. He made as many treys in those wins as he did in his previous 14 outings combined. He hasn't had multiple 3s in three consecutive games all season, a feat he will try to accomplish in front of his former coach, John Calipari, and close buddies Trevon Brazile, Nick Pringle, Billy Richmond and others. "This all started out as a game that we love to play," Fland said. "I feel like nowadays, you can't make it more than that. Obviously, it is. But it's still just a game that we love to play, and we've got to treat it as that." It's the third time in two years the Gators have been involved in a similar reunion: they beat former Florida guard Riley Kugel and Mississippi State in 2025 and knocked off former guard Denzel Aberdeen and Kentucky two weeks ago. "Welcome to college basketball in 2026," Golden said. "It's a thing, going up against your former school and where you started your career, but it can't be the main thing. ... It's human nature. There are going to be emotions. But it can't be something that is at the front of our minds as we play the game." ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball