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BOX SCORE
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Notes & quotes courtesy Florida Sports Information
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“I thought we had good effort tonight. You know, obviously a game that we expected to win coming into it and a big part of the message to the guys was taking advantage of the opportunity to compete, back in our home gym. We haven’t been here for a while and just make sure that we take advantage of the opportunity. I thought we did that. We didn’t play great, but systematically pretty well. I thought we defended pretty well, held them under 40[%] from the field. Only gave up three makes behind the line. Kept them off the foul line. Rebounded well, plus-24 there. Had some late turnovers that were more a function of just kind of some goofy lineups that probably aren’t used to playing a whole lot together. But I thought overall our ball handling was pretty good, so we’ll take it, and you know big picture-wise, didn’t have to play anyone more than 25 minutes. We should be able to get refreshed and recalibrated going into this Colgate game on Sunday.”
On Isaiah Brown and Urban Klavžar playing aggressive off the bench…
“Yeah, I thought Urb played well. You know, too many turnovers, but again, two of them were late, and just trying to get guys some looks, some touches. He’s had a good year, we expect him to play pretty well. I thought Isaiah Brown was good tonight. I thought he was really good, I thought he played with great pace and aggressiveness in the first half. I think he had seven in the first half, had a big offensive rebound, guarded well. And he would have played more, he ended up with a little bit of a hip pointer. He’ll be fine but his minutes would have been extended even more in the second half. I thought he did well. And honestly, Alex Kovatchev, gave us some good lift in that last minute game. A guy that we’ve probably got to look at to get a minute or two, when that opportunity comes up looking forward.”
On Xaivian Lee’s progression as a defender…
“Yeah, he’s defended hard for us all year. He’s done a really good job taking away shooters. He’s quick, does a good job recovering and getting through screens and he’s been mentally tough enough to do it so far. So, I’ve been really pleased with him on that end. And obviously the offense is coming around. He had another really efficient game tonight.”
On what he is looking for in the eighth and ninth player in the rotation…
“Honestly, it’s going to sound really simple, but when those guys come in the game, we just want the score to go the right way. I don’t necessarily care if they’re scoring. The non-negotiables are defending, rebounding and taking care of the ball, but we don’t need a guy to come in and be like a spark plug offensively. We need those guys to come in and make sure that the level doesn’t drop. It did tonight from a number of guys, like our starters were great, they played their share of minutes. Everybody in that top seven, we just expect that score to stay level or go up when you’re in the game.”
Junior F Alex Condon
On being back home after five away or neutral games…
“It’s great being back home. We missed playing in the O’Dome. I’m looking forward to SEC play. There are a few games ahead of us. We just needed to get some stuff right before that stuff.”
On the importance of coming out and playing aggressive against Saint Francis…
“Was saying, we already have four losses, so we just have to keep at it and just playing our game.”
On having a game like tonight after facing high level competition…
“I think it was good. Tommy didn’t score a lot tonight, but has been such a big player for us, so it’s good that he’s not playing 37, even 40, minutes tonight. So, it’s good that he can get a little bit of rest.”
On his improved passing and the offense running through him…
“I just embrace that position and when these guys hit a few shots, the assists go up, so that’s good. But just being unselfish in the post is something that I want to do this year. A few teams have started to throw two at me, so I’ve got to spread the ball out a little bit.”
Senior G Xaivian Lee
On what been different for him in the last couple of weeks…
“Shots are just starting to fall, so it looks a lot better honestly. I feel the same out there, a little pressure off now that the numbers are a little bit better. I’ve been sticking to the same process, and things are starting to go.”
On the pressure he felt in previous games…
“I’ve definitely experienced more than other times. I think, I’m my own biggest critic, so it hasn’t helped. My teammates are there for me, I deleted social media, so I wasn’t noticing any of that. My teammates believe in me, my coaches believe in me and that’s all the really matters.”
On how much he is growing on the defensive end of the floor…
“I’m glad you asked that. My whole life I’ve kind of been like an offensive player, I wouldn’t call myself a defensive liability, but that’s probably what I was in comparison to my offensive talent. A couple weeks back we played Duke and I was thinking, I’m the most confident defender I’ve ever been in my entire life right now, so there’s a positive in that. I just try to dig in, prove that I can play both sides of the ball when my shot’s not falling. I’ve got to control what I can, so I’ve been trying to guard a little better.”
NOTEABLE
- Xaivian Lee’s 18 points led six Gators in double figures in a home rout of St. Francis, while Rueben Chinyelu tallied his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
- Alex Condon (14), Boogie Fland (11), Urban Klavžar (11) and Micah Handlogten (10) joined Lee and Chinyelu in double figures.
- The Gators shot season bests at .610 from the field, .370 from 3-point range and .833 from the free throw line, and the 41-point margin of victory was the largest of the season. Florida dished 21 assists, reaching 20+ for the second time this season (22 vs. UNF).
- Florida’s .813 two-point field goal percentage on 26-for-31 shooting inside the arc was the team’s highest since posting an .825 rate 11/25/2003 vs. Montana State (33-for-40).
- Lee has led the Gators in scoring in four of the last five games. Over that five-game stretch, Lee is averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists and shooting .387 from 3-point range (12/31).
- Condon had an all-around performance with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. Condon has six games with four or more assists.
- With his seventh double-figure rebounding game of the season, Chinyelu is averaging 10.7 per game this season.
- Klavžar hit multiple 3-pointers for the seventh time this season and recorded his first career dunk.
- Klavžar recorded his team-leading seventh and eighth offensive fouls drawn, while Lee drew his fifth of the season.
- Isaiah Brown matched a career high with nine points.
- The Gators earned a 43-19 rebounding advantage.
- Florida improves to 2-0 all-time vs. Saint Francis and 3-0 vs. NEC opponents.
- The Gators are 7-0 at home in black uniforms, in available records dating back to 2002.
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