RALEIGH, N.C. ― Todd Golden was in his first year as Florida basketball coach when UF last faced UConn more than two years ago.

At the time, fifth-year UConn coach Dan Hurley was in the midst of building a dynasty.

The Florida Gators suffered a humbling 75-54 loss to UConn on Dec. 7, 2022, at the O'Connell Center. But from the loss came the template that Golden and his staff witnessed in how to build an elite program.

Fast-forward less than three years later and No. 1 seed Florida (31-4) enters its Round of 32 matchup with 8-seed UConn (24-10) as a 9.5-point favorite with a roster built to last deep into March. Still, UConn presents a challenge as two-time defending national champions and takes a 13-game NCAA Tournament win streak into its matchup with the Gators.

"The thing that I appreciated most about their teams is obviously their talent was really, really special," Golden said. "They have multiple guys now playing in the NBA, but just how well they played together and how in sync and in unison they competed.

"It did, it provided a good just ― not necessarily the blueprint, but our goal was to try to build something similar. I feel like we are in a really good spot right now three years in, in the sense of building a team that enjoys playing together that's really deep."

Florida senior guard Will Richard was the lone player on UF's roster to face UConn three seasons ago.

"That's what's so special about it, our growth from that first year to this year, seeing how night and day the difference is," Richard said. "How we've changed a lot since then."

Florida features a player rotation that's four-deep in the front court and five-deep in the backcourt, led by senior All-American point guard Walter Clayton Jr. (17.7 ppg, 4.3 apg). Golden has built a roster through a combination of high school recruiting, international recruiting and savvy transfer portal additions.

"I always commend our coaches on the roster they put together," Richard said. "Everyone fits in perfectly. We all have had the same goal in mind since the summer. It's been great to be a part of a team like this that has the same viewpoint, plays so well together."

How Florida basketball can pull off a win against UConn an advance to the Sweet 16

Golden wasn't happy with UF's dip in intensity late in the first half of its eventual 95-69 win over 16-seed Norfolk State on Friday night. After Norfolk State went on an 11-0 run to cut UF's lead to 53-32 at halftime, Golden broke the whiteboard inside the locker room in disgust.

Florida can't afford any lulls like that on Sunday against the Huskies.

"I'm not concerned about it moving forward, though," Golden said. "I think our guys do a good job of raising to the level of our competition, making sure that we compete at an insanely high level. They understand that, if we don't do that against UConn, we're going to be going home."

UConn leads in the nation in blocked shots (6.3 bpg), so Florida will need to mindful of the shots it puts up near the rim.

"We're definitely mindful of that in terms of the way we want to attack them tomorrow and do what we can to keep bodies on them, to not let them get free runs, to go block shots," Golden said. "That's where our physicality has got to show up, and our bigs have to do a good job of owning the paint, owning the block."