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The Florida Gators defeated the Grambling State Tigers 86-62 Monday night at Exactech Arena, improving to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2021.

This was the first game Florida played since the news of a Title IX complaint showed that the university was investigating head coach Todd Golden for allegations of sexual harassment and cyberstalking of multiple women on social media, which was first reported by The Independent Florida Alligator.

“I think they know who I am and, again, they’re mature,” Golden said of his team after the game regarding the days since the news. “They’re all really good guys and all super-focused. We had really good practices. We had a great shoot-around today, and I thought they were all really locked in. I felt like we were going to play really well tonight.”

Golden has been with the team since the news broke and was on the bench coaching on Monday against Grambling.

His team showed up with a very balanced attack on offense as five players scored in double figures including a career-high 14 points from Rueben Chinyelu. The transfer center from Washington State made 7-of-8 field goal attempts and recorded three rebounds, two blocks and two assists.

Will Richard, Walter Clayton Jr. and Sam Alexis all had 12 points in the winning effort. Richard lit up the stat sheet as he added five boards and five steals to go with his offensive output. Clayton connected on a team-high three triples and dished out three assists. Alexis went 5-of-9 from the floor and brought in six rebounds.

“This team is super unselfish and they play for each other,” Golden said.

Florida’s unselfishness almost led to a wire-to-wire victory but the Tigers scored the first points of the game on a layup from Kintavious Dozier. Clayton responded with a 3-pointer to take the lead and the Gators did not give it up the rest of the way.

Florida played bully ball against Grambling all night. The Gators outrebounded the Tigers 45 to 24, including a game-high eight boards from sophomore Alex Condon, who also scored 10 points in the game. Florida converted those extra possessions into points as they led the second-chance points battle 18-2.

The 24-point win for the Gators marked their largest margin of victory since Dec. 30 of last year when Florida beat Quinnipiac by 25 in Gainesville.

After their hot start to the young season and the noise surrounding Golden, the Gators will have to face their toughest test yet on Friday against Florida State in Tallahassee. This is a matchup that has been favorable for Florida over the years as the Gators lead the all-time series against the Seminoles 46-28, including a 20-13 record away from home. Tipoff on Friday at the Tucker Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.