Florida-UConn Saturday Press Conference Q&A Transcript

[Mark Wheeler]

Courtesy ASAP...

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon once again. At this time, we're going to open up the floor for questions for Coach Golden.

Q. Todd, a lot of coaches have praised your roster construction, and I'm just curious, maybe even going back to your first year, that UConn game, how much did that kind of provide the blueprint to where you are now in terms of seeing that team and what they did that night against you guys?

TODD GOLDEN: It definitely opened my eyes to how much we needed to improve to be able to compete at the highest level. What Coach Hurley has been able to do over the last few years is remarkable, hasn't lost in March in three years, I think 13 in a row, if I saw that correctly this morning.

The thing that I appreciated most about their teams is obviously their talent was really, really special. 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.

Q. Given their success, track record, and just the tradition -- I mean, six national titles since '99 -- what's kind of the mental component that your team is going to have to have to set that aside? I know you guys are very confident guys, but is there an initial like, hey, this is UConn. We belong or whatever. Is there anything like that?

TODD GOLDEN: The way we're trying to attack it is obviously. Even though we might be favored, I think a lot of people still believe that UConn is going to win this game because of their track record, because of Coach Hurley and the success that they've had.

It's on us to make sure we go out there and show what we're capable of. I think they've done so well, they've been so consistent. Obviously Coach Hurley has been here before. They have multiple players that have won National Championships that expect to win this time of year. For us, this is a relatively new position for us with the chance to advance to play in the Sweet 16.

It gives us an opportunity to keep the chip on our shoulder. I do still think the main people that think we're going to advance is the people in our locker room. We've got to make sure that we play that way tomorrow.

Q. UConn plays split two bigs and they both play very different styles. How are you preparing Alex Condon for that type of role to play to adjust to whether Tarris or Samson is on the court?

TODD GOLDEN: We've got to do everything we can on a short prep to prepare our guys. To your point, Samson and Tarris are both great players, but they're way different. Samson has done an incredible job providing a rim threat in the ball screen and the handoff game. I think I saw he's shooting like 75 percent from 2 or something this year, which is ridiculous. So we've got to be mindful of that and not let him get behind us in the ball screen.

Then Tarris is a great player, but he's more of a low post scorer, more of a guy that they can throw it to on the low block and allow him to try to go get a basket.

The coverages are going to be a lot different depending on who's in the game. Micah and Reuben are going to have to be mindful of that and do a really good job of being able to execute on a short prep.

Q. I was wondering how much of an influence Billy Donovan may have been to you and the program since you've been here? Has he kind of offered you advice, helped you at all and the team? I know he's been somewhat of a sounding board for Dan Hurley in recent years for different things, but have you developed a good relationship with him?

TODD GOLDEN: Coach Donovan's been amazing to me since I got the job. I remember -- I believe it was the day after, I was fortunate enough to get this position, he called me and just said -- or I might have called him after getting his number. He was awesome. He was like whatever -- as much as you want to connect with me or as little, I just want you to know I'm here for you and that I want you to be really, really successful.

That meant a lot. He was helpful for sure, kind of getting through the first couple months. Then the funny thing is, developed a really good relationship with his father, who still lives in Gainesville. Myself, Duke Werner, my sports supervisor, and Billy D. Sr. go out to breakfast once a quarter, I would say. He definitely still likes to be around ball and talk ball, and that's been really neat.

I got to play golf with Coach Donovan this summer and we had a great time, just talking about hoop and talking about life a little bit. He's been really awesome. After big wins, he'll shoot us a text. After the SEC Championship last Sunday, he shot us a nice note congratulating us on the success.

To me, to have someone who's had so much success and been such a remarkable coach at this level, to be so humble to reach out and offer his support, it means a lot to me.

Q. Would you talk about how development of this program, you've gone from a team that was pretty passive and aggressive your first year to one that has become very, very capable of playing physical games? You're playing a team that maybe is as physical as there is in the country.

TODD GOLDEN: Honestly, that has a lot to do with the recruiting. We were able to get -- after year one, obviously we added Micah and Tyrese and ZP and Walt. This year obviously adding Reuben and Alijah, now we have a collective group that enjoys playing physically and plays with an edge.

We've tried to be pretty consistent in our messaging as coaches over the years. I just think this group has it a little more that way and they're more receptive to the physicality and they like to run to the fight.

So the players deserve a lot of credit for that. The coaches do a really good job of putting our guys in position, but our players are the ones that go out and execute and are willing to kind of get nasty and get physical. I think it's going to be really important for us to win this game tomorrow. We've got to be able to do that against UConn tomorrow.

Q. It's just the second round, but with it being UConn and being a 1 seed and with what you're building, how big does this moment feel, or how pivotal is this for the program that you're trying to build?

TODD GOLDEN: It's a huge moment. You've got an opportunity to go play, if you can find a way to win this game tomorrow, to go to the Sweet 16. Our goal being at Florida is to play deep into March and April and compete for championships.

Obviously we've had a remarkable season. We won 31 games to this point. But I don't think we'll be as satisfied as we could be if we're not victorious tomorrow.

Every game at this point is huge, going to be really impactful to our program and the trajectory that we're trying to continue on, but yeah, this game is definitely important. We're not running from that.

Q. Todd, you guys knocked off Auburn earlier this season and snapped, I think it was, a 14-game winning streak and a 30-game winning streak. I don't know how mindful you guys were of that going into the game, but knowing they can snap a 13-game winning streak for UConn, does that provide any extra motivation for them in the tournament?

TODD GOLDEN: In the tournament? Okay. They haven't won 13 in a row. That would be awesome. That's part of the message with the guys. UConn at this time of year, they believe they're going to win. They go into games believing they're going to win, whether they're 1 seed or 8, which they are now, I can't imagine that changes Alex Karaban's mentality.

He's coming in here to try to bust our butt tomorrow. I know Coach Hurley is the same. He's no different. He's just expecting to win tomorrow.

So we've got to make sure we go out there and just match that mentality and be physically and mentally tough for 40 minutes and do everything we can to knock them off the perch a little bit.

But it's going to be a huge challenge. I do think our guys are excited about it and ready for it.

Q. I know Coach has never liked to talk about games beyond the game ahead of him, but when you saw the bracket and you saw UConn a two-time defending champion in the second round, after winning the SEC I'm curious what your thoughts are. And the second part of the question is what is your biggest concern? What do you guys have to do to beat them tomorrow?

TODD GOLDEN: Again, I thought it was a pretty fair draw, to be honest. I think they were 34 in KenPom, and Oklahoma was 37 in KenPom at the time. Gonzaga was an 8 seed, and I think they were 10 in KenPom. We got a fair draw that way. Their program and expectation probably made it a little more difficult seeing them.

Once you get to this point in March, every team you're playing is really good. We weren't thinking too much more about that.

I'm sorry. What was the second part of the question? What do we need to do to beat UConn?

I think we have to do a great job of taking them out of what they want to do in the half-court offensively. They run a lot of really, really good stuff. Misdirections, drifts, pindowns, lots of different actions to make their shooter and playmakers available. We've got to be mindful and do a really good job being on the scout. I think defensive communication is huge tomorrow. We've got to make sure we're all on the same page and all five guys are working together that way.

We've got to make sure we execute like we did in the SEC Tournament. I thought our team was elite in all three games, executing on both sides of the ball. Yesterday we did it for 15 minutes. We've got to do it for 40 tomorrow, though, if we want to beat this team.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

Q. It's been a long time since a team has won three straight National Championships. If you guys are able to beat UConn and end that chapter, how important would that be, and how motivational would that be?

TODD GOLDEN: It would be exciting for us just because we get to move on. We're not too worried about UConn in terms of their path and what they've done. It's more about us. I think we'd be incredibly excited because we'd be able to get back -- for this program to get back to the Sweet 16 and get back to kind of where this program was 10 years ago.

I think that's the biggest thing for us as a program is continuing to try to get Gator basketball back where it has been over the past 20 years -- winning National Championships, going to Final Fours, playing in Sweet 16s, things of that nature.

Q. Does that second half last night give you kind of a hammer with the team a little bit, maybe instead of them cruising to like a 40-point win?

TODD GOLDEN: To be honest, the last four minutes of the first half gave me that hammer. It was addressed at halftime. We were playing fantastic. We were up, I think, 51-19, and Norfolk's a good team. We were just playing about as good as you can play.

We took a breath, and a good team punishes you when you do that. We made sure at halftime that our guys understood it wasn't acceptable, and they knew that. I thought Norfolk played well again in the second half.

I'm not concerned about it moving forward, though. 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 tomorrow.

Q. With 10 being the standard for an over-under, was your anger at halftime over or under?

TODD GOLDEN: Over or under 10? It was under, 9.5.

Q. UConn leads the country in blocked shots. What have they done so well there? Do you feel like your guys' size can make that not as much of a concern?

TODD GOLDEN: Their bigs are great at protecting the rim. The way they guard defensively, it allows them a little more free rein to go swing at shots and do a great job with their rim protection.

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. 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, and not letting Johnson and Reed be free to go roam and protect.

So that will be a huge part of our offensive success tomorrow. I think, if we can execute that, we'll do a better job.

Q. Todd, I think it was 10 for 31 from 3. What were your thoughts about maybe some of the shots that you guys took from out there and maybe the familiarity also being in the arena second time in terms of shooting?

TODD GOLDEN: I thought we took pretty good shots. Obviously Walter was unconscious for the first half and made some bombs and some really tough shots, but he makes tough shots look easy.

I thought the rest of our guys took good shots. Tommy went 0 for 5. I thought he took five good 3s. We'll stay the course on that. I think we'll shoot the ball better collectively tomorrow.

Q. Walter faced this team with Iona two years ago. Obviously a different team than the team that won the National Championship. Did Walter tell the team at all about the play style that UConn has, just facing them from a past perspective?

TODD GOLDEN: He hasn't addressed the team about it, but he definitely has a good understanding, being in this position to compete against them. As we talked about, a couple of the guys are still on the team for UConn that played in that game, so there's some familiarity that way.

That experience for him will definitely help us tomorrow for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, you're excused. Thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

Micah Hondlogten, Thomas Haugh, Reuben Chinyelu, and Alex Condon

THE MODERATOR: We are now ready to begin the Florida portion of the press conference. I'd like to remind you of the rules once again. There's no videotaping, no flash photography.

Q. Was there any planning in having the frontcourt be all the player representatives today?

THE MODERATOR: Micah, were you involved in that decision?

MICAH HONDLOGTEN: I cannot say I was involved in that decision. She just kind of told us right before we came out here today.

Q. Micah and Tommy, what was your guys' reaction last night when you found out you're playing the back-to-back national champions? It looked like Dan Hurley was really excited for this one. Just your thoughts on playing these guys.

THOMAS HAUGH: I know as a team we're really excited to play this game. It's going to be a great game. We're going to go out there, two really good teams, and it's going to be fun tomorrow.

MICAH HONDLOGTEN: I'm going to agree with him on that. Obviously it's unique to go against back-to-back national champions. I know we were back-to-back national champions in '06-' 07. I think we want to go out there and do our work early and get the game over with.

Q. Whichever one of you wants the answer, getting the first game out of the way, does that kind of make you feel more relaxed or at ease, et cetera, anything like that?

THE MODERATOR: Reuben, could you answer that, please.

REUBEN CHINYELU: Obviously it's just the same mindset we have. There's no room for relax or anything. It's just going out there taking care of our business, doing what we do all year, just believing in that and just going out there.

We don't have the urge to relax just because we won one game. This is a six-game streak that we're looking forward to. So we're tackling each game at a time. We're just ready for the moment to embrace it and then just live the moment.

Q. Alex and Tommy, when I say UConn to you guys, given what's happened with them the last two years, aside from just saying two-time national champions, how would you describe how they play, what you know about them, that kind of thing?

THE MODERATOR: Alex, could you go first, please.

ALEX CONDON: I think UConn are very well coached. They have a really good system in place. Our coaches have been saying they're really good at scoring the ball. So I think that defense is really important tomorrow.

We come out and guard the right way, initiate the physicality, and I think our offense will come to us. But the defense is the main thing for us tomorrow as a frontcourt.

THE MODERATOR: Thomas, do you have anything to add?

THOMAS HAUGH: I agree, super well-coached team. They like to get to their stuff in the half-court. We have to do a good job of staying on the man and guarding our yard.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the student-athletes?

Q. UConn leads the country in blocked shots. What do you guys think about the challenge of going up against them and how you have to be mindful of that in this matchup?

MICAH HONDLOGTEN: A really big thing of ours is playing off two. While we might be able to drive, they're a very good shot-blocking team. So you drive, you get them up in the air, you look opposite, look out, and get open shots for others.

I think that's what makes us a special team is we're very unselfish with the ball. So we've just got to play our game, and I think we can get it done.

Q. Todd and Alijah were talking about the complacency after the first 15 minutes. Have you continued to talk about that? How confident are you that you are going to get back to the way you've played the majority of the season?

THOMAS HAUGH: It was definitely that last couple minutes of that first half wasn't how we normally play, and we need to get back to how we played that first half, first 15 minutes.

That was the first game. We got the nerves out and everything behind us, so we're going to be ready for tomorrow.

Q. You mentioned how there's '06-' 07 back-to-back champions. Has Billy Donovan, have you guys been able to connect with him over the years since you've been at Florida? Is he close to the program still and given you guys advice or anything like that?

THE MODERATOR: Is there anyone in particular you'd like to answer that?

Q. On the left, you mentioned the '06-' 07. Sorry, Micah.

MICAH HONDLOGTEN: There's been a couple times he's come up to practice and sat through it and gave us a little talk in the huddle afterward or before. He's always available. Several of us have his phone number that we can just text him whenever, and he can give us like advice.

It's really good to have someone like that in our contacts that's also there to help us whenever we need.

Q. This is for any one of you. Taurean was on the Florida team that went back to back. Has he had anything to say about not letting UConn go one up on you?

REUBEN CHINYELU: He's just physically, he's out there telling us you've worked hard for this moment. So just embrace it, live it, and go out there and do what you did all season because that's what we do.

It's all about us, what we do, how we take care of our business. So we just focus on what we do and let the game speak for itself.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions?

Gentlemen, you're excused. Thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

Dan Hurley

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. We're just going to go ahead and start with questions for Coach Hurley.

Q. Just curious about what you make of the development of Clayton. You saw him a few years ago obviously. What makes him special now?

DAN HURLEY: It's funny, you look at the beginning of our run, he was -- he shared the court with us. You could see the two-way ability, the size, the physical strength. Obviously the shooting is highest level. He looks everything -- he looks the part of first team All-American.

When I asked Luke who has the scout, like he was SEC Player of the Year, he said, no, who the hell got it? All right, Broome. All right.

But shooting is what's taken it to a crazy high level for him. The range, the fact that he does it off the dribble. The fact that he gets it off as quick as he gets it off, I mean, some of the ones he's making or a large majority of the ones he's making, you can't do much about it. They are NBA-level shots.

I don't know where he is on mock drafts, he should be there. He looks to me like a guy who's got some Fred VanVleet type of abilities as a guard. Impressive player with great instincts.

Q. Dan, Todd was in here earlier saying that, when he faced you guys two years ago, he started to see what he maybe wanted to build his program into. I'm curious if maybe having so much success, that there's a trap there of giving teams a template for how to beat you and maybe seeing teams try to mimic what you've done in recent years?

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, I've looked at -- I remember that game. Obviously in '23 it was the beginning of this run that we've been on. I think that the -- what we learned the most from our failure in '22 was the roster construction piece, which we absolutely nailed the last two years.

I'm looking at -- obviously, as this season has gone on, I've looked at the best teams in the country and how they've constructed this year. I've envied some of the teams that I'm now facing or that I've had a chance to watch.

So I think we all watch and learn from each other on a year-to-year basis. I think it's just -- what they have in terms of their frontcourt is obviously similar to what we've had in our run. Then obviously the perimeter fire power and the veteran guards, us with Cam Spencer, Tristen Newton, you know, big physical guards, Steph Castle.

We've had the formula the last couple years, and it looks like they've got a pretty good formula.

Q. In the spirit of envying what other teams might have, we often hear coaches talking about remembering the losses more than wins. With that in mind and sharing a building with Cooper Flagg this weekend, how often do you think about or how much does it bother you the recruiting battles you might have? Have you had a moment to think what this roster might have been like if he was on it?

DAN HURLEY: I think during the course of your career, any time, no matter where you are whether you're at Wagner, Rhodey, when I was coaching high school basketball at St. Benedict's, and Kyrie went to St. Pat's, and Kevin Boyle kicked my ass with Kyrie. I rue the day that I didn't get that guy to come to St. Benedict's.

It's just human nature and part of it, I think you're always, when you see players go to other places and do well, you imagine what that player at different moments, what that would have been like to coach. I think all coaches do that at different times. You don't obsess over it.

Q. Solo Ball seems filled with joy to be playing the role he's playing with this team. But I think back to last year in Brooklyn and Boston, he was filled with joy to be along for the ride. He seems to have loved his experience. What has his ability to handle two distinctly different roles with the same approach meant to your program?

DAN HURLEY: You know, just Solo just came into this, into the program -- when you have two great parents like Solo has, obviously loving and nurturing, but also too demanding and high standards, so you're just getting someone in your program that is -- is just going to add a lot to your culture and is going to be a great program guy.

Obviously super talented with the shooting and a guy that's got a high level of confidence and self-belief and is improving in a lot of different aspects of his game.

I think you see the defensive improvement right now before your eyes. I think you see the guard play improvement. Obviously the foul trouble hurt his overall line last night. We've got to find a way to get him four, five more shots in tomorrow's game. We can't have games maybe where he ends with eight or nine shots. We've got to get him 13, 14 shots in tomorrow night's game because he's built for the stage. He's built for what UConn's trying to do.

Q. Dan, Samson, the all-time wins leader here after last night, I guess this kind of answers itself, but what does that say about him? We all know the Wall potential quote when he came in, that's not going to happen, but is that still a pretty good summary of his career, the fact that he's the all-time wins leader in this program?

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, Samson is just the most awesome human being that you'll ever have in your program, just all about team, super talented, waiting his turn, dealt with injuries, had to earn his spot, had to earn a starting spot. He'll do absolutely anything he can to help the team win the possession.

It speak to the type of men we've had and the type of run we've had here in a program. It's hard to make history or do historical things at UConn. Just proud that he gets -- that's crazy that a program like UConn you've won the most games, man.

You're going to make me start crying.

Q. Obviously before Todd Golden, Billy Donovan achieved a high level of success at Florida before going on to the NBA. I understand you guys have a little bit of a relationship. What kind of sounding board has he been to you over the years? And your thoughts about facing a Florida program that was once led by him.

DAN HURLEY: As a young coach, those were the teams that I admired. Billy's always been one of my coaching idols, and he's impacted me in terms of mentors as much as anyone outside of the Hurley clan. He's had as much or more impact probably than most.

Although he's gone dark on me the last couple days here. He's not responding to texts or phone calls from me.

(Laughing).

But, yeah, those Florida teams, those are some of my favorite teams I've ever watched play with Horford and Noah and Brewer, those teams were amazing. To have accomplished the things that my coaching idol has accomplished and how much I love those Florida teams, and we've been able to do what they've been able to accomplish, it means a lot to me.

But the relationship means more to me than anything because he's helped me so much. Billy, he's incredible.

 

[Mark Wheeler]

Q. You're in a position you haven't been in very often over the last couple years in the tournament. It's almost a double-digit underdog going into tomorrow. First of all, I guess, in general, how does that feel different? Secondly, can you use that as momentum or incentive when you're talking to the guys? Is it something you'll bring up? Does it matter?

DAN HURLEY: I don't think you like walk around saying to yourself, when you coach or play at UConn, you are coming off back-to-back championships. Just with the way the season has played out, obviously we're a -- at our low end, we've had losses that have put us into this 8/9 position, but we're a couple possessions away from, if we don't completely melt down at the end of the Seton Hall game, if we don't -- and if we don't and I don't implode in Maui and blow all three of those games, if we make a couple free throws at the end of that Villanova game, we may be looking at a 5 seed at worst here.

I don't know that when you coach or play at UConn and you're coming off the success we've had that we're looking at ourselves that way. The film doesn't lie about Florida, the challenges that they present in terms of what they do offensively, what they do defensively, what they do on the backboard.

It's eerily similar to what the challenges that we've presented to people, but it's not a best-of-seven-game series. It's a one-game do-or-die situation. For us, there's a distinct way that we're going to want to play this game tomorrow that we believe is going to give us a chance to win the game.

If we could obviously shore up our defense, which has been better late in the year. I thought it was versus an Oklahoma team yesterday that was -- they were a very difficult shot that Kentucky made at the horn to beat them. They were a very difficult shot away from playing in the SEC semifinals, Oklahoma was, and I thought we guarded them very well yesterday.

Obviously our defense is going to be stressed out to the max. Our rebounding is going to be stressed out to the, max. But we've got to do things to give ourselves a chance tomorrow versus this team.

Q. Dan, Liam obviously has had a lot on his shoulders this year as far as responsibilities with this team. How have you seen -- how does he respond to tough games like he's had a little bit lately? And what do you need from him tomorrow to have a chance?

DAN HURLEY: He is the exact type of mental toughness and upbringing and work ethic and career success where he could put behind him the kind of a couple of tough games which he's experienced.

I think it makes him really dangerous tomorrow. I think it makes him incredibly dangerous in a game where he has the ability -- if we can execute and get him the type of looks that we've got to get for him offensively from a coaching staff and the players around him, he's convinced that he's due.

Some players will stay in it, and some players will go through stretches like this and say I'm closer to being due. In the back of his mind, he's got that Creighton game against one of the toughest defenses that you'll play against, the guy went off for 38. In the back of his mind, he knows what he's capable of, and in his mind he thinks he's due.

Q. Regardless of opponent, yesterday Florida just came out swinging against Norfolk State and they've done it numerous times this season. How important against the most efficient offense team in the country, how important is the first four minutes of this game tomorrow?

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, I just think every possession is critical. I think with them what you see is just the runs. When you play an elite offense and you play elite defense and you're a tremendous rebounding team and you're deep, last year I just talked about we were bulletproof in the tournament because of all of those factors.

When you have a team like that, it just allows you to go on runs. It's those hit a 3, get a stop, get out, transition, get a dunk, get a stop, hit a 3, boom. You were just up two, now you're down five. That's where they get you.

For us, we're obviously going to have to be in a possession battle. We can't really afford to try to play an SEC type of game against them where we're coming down and shooting within the first five seconds of the shot clock then we're loose on defense and they shoot early in the clock.

We've got to try to play a different type of game than that.

Q. Since you were talking about ACC-Big East expansion the other day, I'm just curious how much history --

DAN HURLEY: I didn't bring it up. I was just responding.

Q. I'm just interested how much history you have in this state, and I know it's become a trend of late for high-major top programs scheduling home and homes. Have you had discussions with Duke and North Carolina? Would you like to play more in this state?

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, I would love to. I think tomorrow night the Duke fans, obviously they have their history with UConn and that rivalry, but my hope in tomorrow night's game -- tomorrow afternoon's game with the crowd with the Duke people that file in is that the No. 11 Hurley jersey, that that trumps the petty UConn-Duke -- I know our fans can be brutal on social and that digital sewer.

I'm hoping that Bobby Hurley and what he did for Duke and what he did for him and what they did for each other and Coach K maybe blesses it, that maybe the Duke fans maybe help me out tomorrow.

We would like to. For us obviously everything has changed in terms of less MTEs and more wanting to do single -- a couple of single game MSG or somewhere big, somewhere in Chicago for a single game, and then home and homes.

Yes, we reach out to Kentucky. We reach out for Duke and Carolina, Kansas. We're trying to schedule those exciting home and homes or neutral site events that just get people's attention for college basketball November and December. Playing games like that, I think are just great for the sport, and we want to play them.

Yes, we have reached out, and I think we'll be excited -- we'll be announcing some exciting ones that we'll be playing, but it takes two to tango.

Q. Todd was just up there talking about how with all the success you guys have had in this tournament, especially the last couple years, your team expects to win. They have that mentality. How valuable is that intangible, and how difficult is that to attain?

DAN HURLEY: In all fairness to the team, we've been able to retain the staff, but a majority of the players that were part of the two-year run are now starring in the NBA. But we still have obviously some significant players with Karaban and Samson Johnson, Hassan Diarra and J-Stew and Solo Ball, J Ross have all helped last year's team as well. So we still have that DNA.

I think more so for us there was tremendous relief based on how tumultuous the season was and how loud the external noise has been the whole year, both for everything that surrounds me and surrounds UConn basketball with how successful we've been. I think there's just been a great level of relief for our team.

Just to hear our name called, to obviously have gotten through the first game, and now have an opportunity to play one of the best teams in the tournament for the right to get to a Sweet 16.

I mean, we understand the challenges that Florida presents. The tape does not lie. The analytics and the efficiency of their offense and defense, all that stuff does not lie. You can't really get lucky in this tournament.

We know that it's not a best of seven, and we've faced the same type of pressure that Todd and his team is facing playing these games. Like Todd knows what type of team he's got. I knew what type of team I had the last couple years, and when you know you've got a squad, that's like a real thing when you get to these round of 32, Sweet 16, like you know you've got a squad.

I could relate to what he's experiencing right now.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? All right, Coach, thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow.