GAME NOTES: Trying for their second upset over a 2014 Final Four team in as many games, the upstart Yale Bulldogs will venture to the O'Connell Center on Monday night to take on the slumping Florida Gators.

Yale grinded it out with reigning national champion Connecticut on Friday night and captured a thrilling 45-44 road victory on a last-second 3-pointer by Jack Montague. The triumph was the Bulldogs' third straight as they improved to 8-2.

Florida came into the season as the No. 7 team in the nation but has not lived up to expectations. Its schedule has been brutal, but it has nonetheless failed to defeat any of its quality opponents. After losing two of three in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Gators suffered a 71-65 setback at nationally- ranked Kansas on Friday to slip to 3-4.

The Gators have beaten the Bulldogs in both previous meetings, most recently in January of 2013 in New Haven, 79-58.

The Bulldogs held a lead at halftime and well into the second half of their latest game before UConn surged ahead with a 6-0 run late in the game. Justin Sears made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to make it a two-point game, then after UConn missed the front end of a one-and-one, Montague drained the game-winning trey, his only points of the game. They shot just 32.7 percent from the field in the defensive struggle but won the rebounding battle, 36-25. Javier Duren poured in a game-high 15 points, while Sears was a menace in the paint with 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

On the season, Yale has impressed on both ends of the floor, as it shoots 43.7 percent from the field for 70.0 ppg while allowing just 59.5 ppg on 40.9 shooting. Duren leads the way with 14.3 ppg while also finding time to hand out 4.3 apg. Sears is one of the Ivy League's best big men with 13.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 2.8 blocks per contest, and Montague (10.1 ppg) makes 2.5 3-pointers per game at a 51 percent success rate.

The Gators actually controlled most of their matchup with Kansas over the weekend, as they held a commanding 18-point lead early in the second half only to collapse down the stretch following a 28-5 KU ran late in the game. After shooting 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, the Gators regressed to only 34.5 percent shooting in the second stanza, and they were outscored at the foul line, 27-7. Devin Robinson paced the losing effort with 13 points, Chris Walker scored 12 off the bench and Michael Frazier II and Jon Horford netted 10 apiece.

Florida has played very well on the defensive end of the floor this season by holding opponents to just 61.3 ppg on 41 percent field goal shooting. Unfortunately it has a hard time supporting that effort with a poor showing on the other end of the court (.395 FG percentage, 63.7 ppg). Frazier scores a team-high 14.4 ppg to go with 6.1 rpg, and he's the team's only viable threat from 3-point range (16-of-44). Horford (10.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Dorian Finney- Smith (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg) bring stability to the frontcourt.

Florida has not played well this season, but with losses against Kansas, Georgetown, North Carolina and Miami-Florida, it is certainly a better team than its 3-4 record suggests. Yale is riding high after a great upset win over UConn, but its tough road trip will start to catch up to it in this one.