Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
BOX SCORE
(Turn your smartphone horizontally or, on a computer, right-click on the image to open in a new browser to see a larger version – Or click on the Box Score link at the top.)
Notes & quotes courtesy Florida Sports Information
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement…
“Really proud of our group tonight. I thought we did a great job coming out ready to play. We got, obviously, off to a really good start, and we never really looked back. I thought our defense, again, was fantastic. We held them to 34 (percent) from the field, 27 from three. As we’ve learned over the last couple weeks for our group, when we guard and rebound, we’re pretty tough to beat, and it’s got to be our calling card. Credit to Georgia, I thought they fought hard in the second half. Didn’t go away, but when it got a little dicey, we stepped up and found a way to keep that thing over 10 and never let it get close.”
On the common denominator in the five straight road wins…
“We’re guarding, you know? We’re guarding, I think, especially to start games. I think they were 5-for-23 to start the game tonight, and we were up double digits pretty early. As I said after the last game, I think our team is getting to the point where we’re enjoying kind of owning the identity of being a defensive, gritty, physical rebounding team that gets out in transition, takes advantage of opportunities that arise from our defense. And if we play like that, we’re going to be in every ballgame and give ourselves a really good chance to win.”
On Xaivian Lee’s performance…
“He was great. He was one of the best players on the floor, clearly, tonight. I thought he did a great job just playing with poise, especially when Georgia tried to speed us up, taking care of the basketball, hit some really big threes – one early, two late – that kind of stymied a couple of their runs. I thought he played with really, really good poise all night. (He) ended up with 7 assists in this game with no turnovers. Says a lot about his effort.”
On the team’s 3-point shooting…
“We collectively, as a staff and as a program, think of our three-point shooting as a cherry on top. We don’t want that to be what makes us good or what we rely upon to be a good team. We want it to be a thing where if we are shooting the ball well, that we’re just really, really hard to beat. I thought that showed up in the first half when we went 6-for-14 from three. Obviously, had a 16-point lead going in halftime, shot 33% the second half, which is elite for us and something that we can build on moving forward.”
On whether he feels the team is coming together at just the right time…
“I would say so. I think our guys have done a really good job being mentally tough all year. We played a really tough schedule in the nonconference and lost a couple tight games. I think a lot of people wanted to count us out and say, ‘You’re not last year’s team,’ and we handled that the right way. We didn’t point fingers. We weren’t blaming each other for the lack of success, and we just stayed the course. We kept working and practicing, and we leaned into each other, and I think over the last month and a half, we’ve been playing really good basketball.”
On building a 20-point lead before Thomas Haugh recorded a field goal…
“I think it speaks to the depth of our team, and I thought our bench was fantastic again tonight. You look at Isaiah (Brown), Urby (Urban Klavžar), and Micah (Handlogten). We come out the second half, and I didn’t think we had the energy that we necessarily needed to finish the game the right way. Credit to Georgia, they came out ready to compete in the second half. They went on a 6-0 run, which ended up being an 11-0 run when you go back in the 1st half, got down to nine. And we went to the bench. We subbed those three guys in, and next thing you know, we go in quick 6-0 run to go in the under-16 media at 15 as opposed to nine, and that’s a big difference. They go in at the under-16 down nine, they’re talking to each other about, ‘We’re back in this thing. Let’s go.’ Instead, it’s 15, and it’s like, ‘Man, we’ve been playing really well, but we haven’t cut into it very much.’ And it speaks to our bench and our depth on our team. Go Gators.”
Sophomore G Boogie Fland
On 5 straight road wins:
“Just come in with a dog mentality, sticking to what we do and not getting complacent like we did against Auburn. Sticking to the plan.”
Senior G Xaivian Lee
On tonight’s performance…
“I think we’re all locked into what the coaches are asking us to do on defense, and offensively we’re finding our groove too. We’re seeing each other better on the court and, obviously, our size and athleticism seems to wear teams down at the end of games.”
NOTEABLE
- Xaivian Lee’s 18 points and seven assists with zero turnovers led the Gators to their ninth win in the last 10 games, including five in a row on the road, while Rueben Chinyelu posted his third 20-rebound game of the season.
- Florida opened the game on a 10-0 run, forcing Georgia to miss its first eight shots of the game. Florida is 14-1 (7-0 in SEC) when recording a 10-0 or better run.
- Florida led by as many as 20 in the first half and by 14 at the break. After a Georgia run early in the second half closed the gap to nine, Florida went on a 17-4 run to push UF’s lead to 22.
- The Gator defense limited Georgia to its season-low in points (66).
- Boogie Fland added 15 points and a pair of steals.
- Chinyelu grabbed 12 rebounds first half, the third time in SEC play he has snagged double-digit boards in a half (15 vs. LSU; 10 vs. Tennessee).
- Chinyelu is the fourth player in Florida history with three or more 20-rebound games.
- Chinyelu reached 100 offensive rebounds for the season, the seventh player in team history to do so. Three of those players are on the Gators’ current roster (Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten). His 102 this season are tied for fourth-most in a season and just 12 shy of Dwayne Davis’ program record (114, 1988-89).
- Isaiah Brown hit a career high three 3-pointers, posting 12 points for his third double-figure game in SEC play, while Alex Condon’s 12 points and Thomas Haugh’s 11 rounded out UF’s double-figure scorers.
- Haugh played his 100th game as a Gator, appearing in every game over the course of his collegiate career.
- Haugh hit a 3-pointer for the 19th straight game.
- Haugh shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line and has made 15 straight from the charity stripe, the longest streak of his career.
- Lee scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first half.
- Florida maintains its lead in the SEC standings, one game ahead of Kentucky, Texas A&M and Arkansas heading into Saturday’s head-to-head matchup vs. UK.
- The Gators have five straight SEC road wins, the third-longest such streak in Florida history behind streaks of 10 (2014 and 2015) and six (2006 and 2007). Five straight road wins also ties for UF’s fifth-longest overall road winning streak.
- UF now holds a 128-104 all-time record vs. Georgia, including 8-1 under Golden. UF is 46-63 in Athens, 3-1 under Golden.
- Florida has won 14 of the last 15 meetings and has its sixth sweep of UGA over the last seven seasons.
0 comments