Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center| Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/6/2333764.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/6/2023-24_FloridaStatistics.pdf>
Records: Florida 1-0; Loyola Maryland 0-1
Next up for Florida: vs. Virginia at Charlotte (Hall of Fame Series), Friday, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Notable
* Preseason All-SEC honoree Riley Kugel led the Florida attack with 23 points, including a 10-for-12 showing from two-point range. It marked his fourth career 20-point game and one point shy of matching his career high.
* Kugel’s career-high six steals marked the most by a Gator since Kevarrius Hayes had six in the NCAA Tournament vs. Virginia (3/16/17).
* Florida opened the game on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes.
* Eight players made their Florida debut, including transfers Walter Clayton Jr., Micah Handlogten, Julian Rishwain and Tyrese Samuel along with freshmen Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Kajus Kublickas.
* The Gators got double-figure scoring from Micah Handlogten (16), Tyrese Samuel (15) and Alex Condon (13). Samuel and Walter Clayton Jr. co-led the team with eight rebounds each, with Clayton adding a team-high five assists.
* Both Condon and Handlogten hit a pair of 3-pointers on their first two attempts from beyond the arc. Condon became the first Gator freshman with multiple 3-pointers in his debut since Andrew Nembhard (2 at FSU, 11/6/18).
Head Coach Todd Golden
On the fast start…
“Great. What we were hoping for and we were able to accomplish it. I thought we did a good job at the beginning of the second half that way as well. Wasn’t as pleased with the rest of the game, but in terms of kind of setting the tone early, then we stretched that thing out to 26 with 12 and a half to go. I would have liked us to keep our foot on the gas a little better that way, but a 20-point win, we’ll take it.”
On the win…
“I don’t think we played as well as we had in the first couple of scrimmages, to be honest. I think a little jittery, a little bit of nerves that way. Defensively, we weren’t as physical as I thought we needed to be. Then, obviously, we didn’t shoot the ball well from the line at all. That can be an issue moving forward. It wasn’t tonight, but as we play the tougher teams on our schedule, we just have to take advantage of the line better than we did tonight.”
On struggling from the line…
“We struggled a little bit that way in the scrimmages. [Walter Clayton Jr.] I think is a little more of an aberration I don’t anticipate. I think he shot 97% from the foul line last year or something like that, so I don’t anticipate him having issues moving forward. But our front court has struggled a little bit that way. We will continue to address it. This team will get to the line more. We are a little more athletic. We have more opportunities to finish at the rim and we got to take advantage of those moments better than we did tonight.”
On Riley Kugel’s performance…
“I thought he played really well. To your point, he did a great job of attacking downhill and did a really good job of putting the ball in the basket. I thought there were a couple more drives that maybe could have ended up at the foul line, but overall, 10-15. He does a great job reading the opportunity to go make a play on the ball. To get six steals is really impressive and that team, generally, is a pretty good ball handling team. They are pretty savvy. Their front court handles it really, really well, so it wasn’t like he was taking advantage or picking on anybody, he was just kind of being in the right place at the right time. That’s an area that he excels in.”
Grad F Tyrese Samuel
On getting out there as a group for the first time this season…
“It felt good, we got to play someone different, obviously we had some exhibition games, but now it’s the real thing. Now, people get to see us and all of the hard work we’ve put in all Summer and all Fall. It felt great to play in front of the fans and play against someone different.”
On team chemistry, defining roles in this first game…
“This game was definitely a confidence booster, especially for some of the freshmen, even for us… every team has a different play style, so knowing what we need to do to adjust and learn. It doesn’t matter who we play, it’s just going to help our team at the end of the day.”
On the message to the team with a challenging schedule ahead…
“It’s not going to get any easier. We just have to keep on practicing, don’t worry about who we’re playing next, just go out there and play hard. We have enough talent and enough depth to do amazing things.”
Sophomore G Riley Kugel
On his well-rounded performance…
“I’m definitely more than just a scorer. I feel like last year you all just saw a tiny glimpse of my game, and now this is the year that I get to show you all that I have to bring to the table. It’s just the start, I still have a lot to improve upon… I feel like I get better each year, just from the confidence that I gain each year. It really just starts with the guys around me, and being able to click and mesh with them.
On the message to the team with a challenging schedule ahead…
“Keep attacking. Keep practicing. Just stack days, each day get better and better.”
