Courtesy Florida Sports Information
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement
“Yeah, just really happy and proud of our team. I thought they did a great job answering the challenge. We talked a lot about it after the game that I didn't think our mentality was where it needed to be on Tuesday night against really good Missouri team that came in here and took advantage of it. And we talked a lot about it over the last 48 hours that, you know, with this opportunity on Saturday, we just could not allow it to happen where a team comes in here and plays harder than us. And, to the credit of our players and our staff, I thought we played incredibly hard. We were not perfect. We had some silly turnovers and transition, some missed coverages here and there. But when we play with that level of effort, it allows us to make some mistakes and still be victorious. And I thought for us to win the game the way we did, and to extend it and win by 24 was a great statement coming back off Tuesday night.”
On how much better the team performed after the tough loss to Missouri
“Well, we weren’t great the other night, so we’ve grown in the past 48-72 hours. But no, our mentality and being on the scout was much better tonight. I thought Alijah [Martin] and Denzel [Aberdeen] did a great job on Jordan Pope, a guy who can really hurt you if you let him loose and give him some space. Stayed in his hip pocket, only gave him three [3-point] attempts. He didn’t make a shot tonight, and he’s an incredible offensive player. We did an awesome job just turning his water off and then with Tre Johnson, you gotta pick your poison a little bit. Obviously, he’s an incredible talented young man, will be a lottery pick here shortly. But, you know, our mentality was if we force him to take contested mid-ranges over the course of 40 minutes, we would have to live with it if they beat us that way. And we talked before the game to the team about winning the battle in the paint and winning the battle behind the three-point line, and we have struggled in our losses in league in both those areas. Between the two, I think we win like 66 to 32 or something like that today. So I thought we set the tone and our guys executed the game plan very well.”
On Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin’s ability to turn up in the clutch
“I mean it’s obviously a big reason as to why we are where we are, and I would throw Will [Richard] in that group, as well, from a standpoint of just providing some really big winning efforts. And we’ve talked about his growth as a player a lot. But every time he was in the game, his 33 minutes, we had him on Tre Johnson today. And in the past, you know, he might lose a guy for… he was locked in. He did a wonderful job. I’ll pick on him with a few fouls on the jump shots, but he made everything really, really hard for Tre tonight. And Tre’s gonna get his, he was 6-for-15 from the field but only 16 points and a turnover, but he wasn’t as efficient as he needed to be to beat us in here today. And that was a big part of why we were able to win.”
Sophomore F/C Alex Condon
On closing out Texas in the final eight minutes of the game
“Yeah, just coming in we lost the rebounds by a lot against Missouri, and it was an emphasis for the bigs at least. We thought we could beat these guys on the rebounds with our physicality, and that was at least my mindset today. And, yeah, just the guards pushing in transition I think was a key for us as well, just getting it out in transition in the second half, and I think just our physicality as well was great today.”
Senior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On if it means anything to tie the record for most consecutive games with a three-pointer made
“Yeah, for sure. To have my name with some of them other guys up there, they were great players obviously, just being a part of Gators history, but just getting a win, I’m happy about that, that’s all that matters.”
On the bigs clearing out space for nice driving lanes from the perimeter
“It cleared out a lot. Reuben [Chinyelu], all of them, they’re down there, they’re working, they’re being physical, so us guards definitely appreciate it. We see them working and I think we try to reward them sometimes, getting them the ball. I think our bigs are great, man, great playmakers, great physicality, great rebounders. I think our bigs do it all, so they’re great for us.”
Grad G Alijah Martin
On the intensity from the jump
“Yeah, you know, just getting after it in practice. Also, we didn’t want to let the Gator Nation down. We’re going out there and playing our hardest every game, and we didn’t do that last game but we came out today.”
On doing a good job running Texas off the three-point line, holding them to 4-for-16
“We knew they had some shooters, some elite shot makers and stuff like that, so we just wanted to limit that and that’s what we did today. We came out we made them take tough shots, and it worked out.”
On if it was a point of emphasis at halftime to lock in on Tre Johnson after his 11 points at half
“Not really. He was making tough shots, [and] we’re gonna live with that. Will [Richard] played outstanding defense today, credit to Will. We just did what we had to do the last 20 minutes of the game.”
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement
“Yeah, just really happy and proud of our team. I thought they did a great job answering the challenge. We talked a lot about it after the game that I didn't think our mentality was where it needed to be on Tuesday night against really good Missouri team that came in here and took advantage of it. And we talked a lot about it over the last 48 hours that, you know, with this opportunity on Saturday, we just could not allow it to happen where a team comes in here and plays harder than us. And, to the credit of our players and our staff, I thought we played incredibly hard. We were not perfect. We had some silly turnovers and transition, some missed coverages here and there. But when we play with that level of effort, it allows us to make some mistakes and still be victorious. And I thought for us to win the game the way we did, and to extend it and win by 24 was a great statement coming back off Tuesday night.”
On how much better the team performed after the tough loss to Missouri
“Well, we weren’t great the other night, so we’ve grown in the past 48-72 hours. But no, our mentality and being on the scout was much better tonight. I thought Alijah [Martin] and Denzel [Aberdeen] did a great job on Jordan Pope, a guy who can really hurt you if you let him loose and give him some space. Stayed in his hip pocket, only gave him three [3-point] attempts. He didn’t make a shot tonight, and he’s an incredible offensive player. We did an awesome job just turning his water off and then with Tre Johnson, you gotta pick your poison a little bit. Obviously, he’s an incredible talented young man, will be a lottery pick here shortly. But, you know, our mentality was if we force him to take contested mid-ranges over the course of 40 minutes, we would have to live with it if they beat us that way. And we talked before the game to the team about winning the battle in the paint and winning the battle behind the three-point line, and we have struggled in our losses in league in both those areas. Between the two, I think we win like 66 to 32 or something like that today. So I thought we set the tone and our guys executed the game plan very well.”
On Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin’s ability to turn up in the clutch
“I mean it’s obviously a big reason as to why we are where we are, and I would throw Will [Richard] in that group, as well, from a standpoint of just providing some really big winning efforts. And we’ve talked about his growth as a player a lot. But every time he was in the game, his 33 minutes, we had him on Tre Johnson today. And in the past, you know, he might lose a guy for… he was locked in. He did a wonderful job. I’ll pick on him with a few fouls on the jump shots, but he made everything really, really hard for Tre tonight. And Tre’s gonna get his, he was 6-for-15 from the field but only 16 points and a turnover, but he wasn’t as efficient as he needed to be to beat us in here today. And that was a big part of why we were able to win.”
Sophomore F/C Alex Condon
On closing out Texas in the final eight minutes of the game
“Yeah, just coming in we lost the rebounds by a lot against Missouri, and it was an emphasis for the bigs at least. We thought we could beat these guys on the rebounds with our physicality, and that was at least my mindset today. And, yeah, just the guards pushing in transition I think was a key for us as well, just getting it out in transition in the second half, and I think just our physicality as well was great today.”
Senior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On if it means anything to tie the record for most consecutive games with a three-pointer made
“Yeah, for sure. To have my name with some of them other guys up there, they were great players obviously, just being a part of Gators history, but just getting a win, I’m happy about that, that’s all that matters.”
On the bigs clearing out space for nice driving lanes from the perimeter
“It cleared out a lot. Reuben [Chinyelu], all of them, they’re down there, they’re working, they’re being physical, so us guards definitely appreciate it. We see them working and I think we try to reward them sometimes, getting them the ball. I think our bigs are great, man, great playmakers, great physicality, great rebounders. I think our bigs do it all, so they’re great for us.”
Grad G Alijah Martin
On the intensity from the jump
“Yeah, you know, just getting after it in practice. Also, we didn’t want to let the Gator Nation down. We’re going out there and playing our hardest every game, and we didn’t do that last game but we came out today.”
On doing a good job running Texas off the three-point line, holding them to 4-for-16
“We knew they had some shooters, some elite shot makers and stuff like that, so we just wanted to limit that and that’s what we did today. We came out we made them take tough shots, and it worked out.”
On if it was a point of emphasis at halftime to lock in on Tre Johnson after his 11 points at half
“Not really. He was making tough shots, [and] we’re gonna live with that. Will [Richard] played outstanding defense today, credit to Will. We just did what we had to do the last 20 minutes of the game.”