#8 Florida 71, RV Arkansas 63
Bud Walton Arena | Fayetteville, Ark.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2025/1/11/2025.01.11_Florida_at_Arkansas.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/11/15/2024-25_UFstats.pdf> | Courtesy Photos & Press Conferences<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rb8ojhaf9ygpi6d0k3c9e/ANF6-ow4Wppu1j1zjAsnMXA?rlkey=g1esu5ww8r31yd8dyekcik5iw&st=3b1ht5u5&dl=0>
Records: Florida 15-1, 2-1 SEC; Arkansas 11-5, 0-3 SEC
Next Up: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 9 p.m., Missouri, ESPNU
Notable
* Alijah Martin’s 14 points and Alex Condon’s 12-point, 10-rebound double-double powered the Gators to the road win over Arkansas in the teams’ only regular season meeting. Will Richard and Walter Clayton Jr. also added 12 points each.
* After an Arkansas 7-0 run to close within three points with 6:11 to play, the Gators responded with a 7-0 run of their own to get their lead back to double figures, 60-50, and force an Arkansas timeout with 4:33 to play.
* Florida weathered an 0-for-7 start from 3-point range and an early 11-2 deficit before UF’s defense clamped down for an early 11-0 run. Arkansas scored 11 in the first 3:30 of the game, then just 14 over the final 16:30 of the half.
* Florida also overcame a season-low .391 field goal percentage and a 35-20 disadvantage in free throw attempts.
* Florida had a +10 advantage on the glass, 49-39, and posted a 19-6 edge in second-chance points.
* Condon became the first Gator this season to post back-to-back double-doubles, coming off 12 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday’s win vs. Tennessee.
* Clayton extended his streak to 39 consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal made, matching Lee Humphrey for the second-longest such streak in Florida history behind Michael Frazier II (41).
* Florida scored 70+ points for the 17th straight game, the second-longest such streak in program history (26, 12/17/1976 through 12/7/1977).
* Todd Golden has won two straight coaching head to head vs. John Calipari, both on the road (94-91 OT win at Kentucky, 1/31/24).
* After having zero foul-outs all season, the Gators had three on Saturday (Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh, Alijah Martin). It marked the first time Florida had three players foul out since Nov. 24, 2016, vs. Seton Hall when Chris Chiozza, Kasey Hill and Devin Robinson all fouled out.
* The win marked the Gators’ second out of 15 to come by single digits (six vs. North Carolina).
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement…
“Huge win. Huge win for us. I think we were fighting a little bit of human nature after Tuesday night – great win for us, and we were a little fatigued both emotionally and physically. I was a little worried about how we would be able to respond against a team that was awfully hungry and competitive. Early on, obviously we struggled a little bit, but our guys were pretty resilient. I thought we fought. We weren’t perfect, but we competed well enough to win. We rebounded when we needed to. I thought we did a great job protecting the rim, which was a huge part of our scout today and stepped up and knocked down some big shots. Alijah [Martin] hit that big three in the second half, then Condo’s [Alex Condon] pop-three, in my opinion, iced the game. I think that was 1:23 left to get us up 12. We had multiple really good efforts. One guy I want to highlight is Sam Alexis. I thought he stepped up remarkably tonight, gave us great minutes off the bench to give us six [points] and seven [rebounds] and play a really solid game was huge for us.”
On the halftime message…
“We didn’t handle their pressure very well, but I thought we left some points out there behind the 3-point line. We were 3-for-16 in the first half from three. I thought we got some really good looks that we didn’t knock down. As we talked at half, again, it was continue to take care of the ball. We had two swing plays – pick-sixes that led to layups for them. But we thought if we just stayed the course that we’d be all right, and we stepped up and obviously scored 43 in the second half, so we were much better that way.”
On Sam Alexis stepping up and should feel good about himself after this performance…
“As he should. We talked about if we’re going to reach our goals of being an elite team and playing deep into March, we need different guys to step up on different nights. He had an extended opportunity tonight with all the foul trouble we were playing through. To his credit, there was no drop-off when he was in the game. This was the first time where we’ve played a really good opponent in a big game where I thought he looked like he felt comfortable. He did everything we asked him to do. I thought he was super aggressive getting 50-50 rebounds. I thought he did a great job initiating our offense out of the elbow. I told him after the game, if we continue to get him playing better and better, it’s obviously going to make us pretty tough.”
Sophomore F/C Alex Condon
On weathering a slow start…
“We came out and started the game a bit slow. The energy we came out with in the second half, finding open guys and getting to the free throw line, it was a lot better in the second half than the first.”
Senior G Will Richard
On playing in a game with a lot of whistles…
“You have to read the game, see how refs are calling it, then pick your spots. There were parts during the game they were calling stuff and parts of the game when they weren’t, so you just have to play smart.”
