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BOX SCORE
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Notes & quotes courtesy Florida Sports Information
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“We played really well to start the game. We were up by 26 points at halftime. I thought we had a really good first half. We played with great intent and obviously dominated them in the first however many minutes on the glass and played with great purpose. It’s difficult when you win by 22, but you are disappointed when the game ends. It’s just part of the threshold and expectation of the program. Give credit to Dartmouth as well. I thought they shot the ball really well in the second half and took advantage of some defensive breakdowns that we had. But I don’t think we defended with enough intention in the second half. I don’t think we played with enough pace and enough physicality and that’s kind of the next step that we keep talking about with this group; we have to play a full 40 minutes. If that means winning this game by 50, that’s what it means. We didn’t do that tonight and give credit to Dartmouth for playing a really good second half.”
On how much he wants the returning players to emphasize playing a full 40 minutes to the rest of the team…
“I think those guys do a good job of that, for the most part. We were pretty good in their minutes, especially when we were playing our top eight guys. But yes, the vocal leadership, in that regard, needs to come from them. When they see some of those younger guys out there, getting an opportunity, my expectation is that they coach them up as well. Our staff is doing it, but they need to have an equal amount of pride and on the defensive end as well. So yes, it needs to be collective and being player led is best.”
On if the team is ready for SEC play…
“Yeah, I think we are ready. We’ve been getting better. For a large part of this game, we played really well. I think we are trending in the right direction. It’s going to be a challenge going on the road to Missouri to start SEC play on Saturday, but from where we were in the beginning of the season to now, we have improved up to this point. But we need to continue to get better and strive for that full 40-minute game and it’s going to be a great challenge on Saturday night.”
On where he feels the team has grown the most…
“I think we’ve, for the most part – although we were careless at some points tonight – I think we have been better taking care of the ball. We had four turnovers in the first 36 minutes against Colgate. And we’ve done a good job in previous games before that. We have started to defend without fouling better. We did a good job keeping these teams off the free throw line. We’ve regressed guarding the 3-point line these last couple games actually because Colgate got us from three as well. So we have got to get back to that as we enter SEC play. Those are the two areas, specifically. Obviously, Xaivian [Lee] has played a lot better over these last couple weeks compared to how he started the year.”
Junior C Rueben Chinyelu
On his double-double performance tonight…
“I feel like I’m showcasing what I have been working on, just getting better. Just doing anything that I could to get my team up there. The most important thing is to put the team first…getting the win. Preparing mentally, just knowing that every day we step on the court, it’s business. As the leaders of the team, we just have to step up every day and get better each day.”
On their high expectations for improvement…
“Winning is beautiful, but just making sure you are doing it the right way. Yeah, we won by 22, and [Coach Golden] doesn’t [care] if you don’t stick to the scout and do the right thing. This is not about them; it’s about us – getting better, how can we execute [and] how can we stick to [the] scout, because that’s the most important thing. Once you get all those dots connected, everything will align.”
Junior F Alex Condon
On defending the 3-point shot against Dartmouth…
“Yeah, we emphasized it a lot…Run them off the 3-point line. We want to make these guys finish inside. I think in the first half we did a good job, but the second half we just got complacent. We were up 32 [points] at some point with 16 minutes left and we slowly let them creep back into the game. So, if we want to be a great team, we got to do it for all 40 minutes. Coach talks about it all the time.”
On leading the team to finish all 40 minutes strong…
“Something we emphasize with [Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, and me] is being accountable. We [have] been here before and won a national championship here. If we want to hold them to that championship standard, we got to be vocal and talk early every time. That’s important to us and we really care about our program. What happened tonight, sure it’s a 20-point win, but we got to do it for all 40 [minutes].”
NOTEABLE
- Alex Condon’s 17 points led five Gators in double figures, as Rueben Chinyelu posted his seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
- Xaivian Lee and Urban Klavžar each chipped in 12 points, while Boogie Fland added 10.
- The Gators posted a dominant 60-24 rebounding advantage, led by Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten’s 12 each. The Gators’ 25 offensive rebounds tied for the fifth-most in a game in program history and marked the fourth time this season the Gators had 20+ offensive boards.
- Florida’s 53 points before the break were its most in the first half this season, second-most in any half (55, 2nd half vs. St. Francis).
- Boogie Fland matched his season high with five assists to go along with three steals.
- Chinyelu’s seventh double-double was also his ninth double-figure rebounding game of the season. Chinyelu is averaging a double-double at 10.7 points and an SEC-leading 10.9 rebounds per game.
- Urban Klavžar tallied his ninth game this season with multiple 3s, added his team-leading ninth offensive foul drawn this season and collected a career-high five rebounds.
- The Gators won their 13th straight home game and improve to 35-2 at home since the start of the 2023-24 season. The victory was UF’s 19th straight nonconference home win and caps its third straight undefeated nonconference home slate.
- Florida improves to 9-2 all-time vs. Ivy League teams, 1-0 under Golden.
- The Gators recorded their third sellout of the season.
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