Notable
* Twenty points each from Rueben Chinyelu and Xaivian Lee led the Gators to a top-10 road win, the Gators’ third top-25 win in their current four-game winning streak. Thomas Haugh added 18 points, while Alex Condon scored 16 and Isaiah Brown went for a career-high 14 off the bench on his 20th birthday.
* The Gators finished the game on a 6-0 run, with Lee hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with :45 remaining. Condon hit a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left to put Florida up by four.
* Florida’s 13-0 first-half run tied for its third-largest run of the season and was its largest in SEC action.
* The Gators used a 16-2 run early in the second half to turn a five-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 60-51, at the 15:23 mark. The run included a seven-point possession (see note further down for details).
* Florida has posted 90+ points in seven of its last eight games. Florida is averaging 86.5 points per game this season.
* Haugh has averaged 21.8 points in the Gators’ four road games this season.
* Haugh has also hit a 3-pointer in 13 straight games.
* Isaiah Brown celebrated his 20th birthday with a career-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, a 6-for-6 showing at the charity stripe and a putback dunk.
* Lee earned his third 20-point game of the season, shooting 8-for-13 from the field (3-for-7 from 3).
* Condon posted 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, finishing with 16 and eight.
* Florida picked up its ninth all-time top-10 road win and the fourth under Todd Golden. Golden’s four top-25 road wins double the total of any other coach in UF history (2, Billy Donovan & Tommy Bartlett). Golden holds a 4-6 record in such games (.400), while the Gators were 5-62 (.090) prior to Golden.
* The win also marked Golden’s 21st vs. a ranked opponent at Florida, surpassing Mike White’s 20 for second all-time as Florida head coach (Donovan, 64). At 21-15 (.583), Golden is the only Gator coach with a winning record vs. top-25 foes.
* With his 89th win at Florida, Golden also tied White for most wins in a coach’s first four seasons at Florida (also ahead of Donovan, 78; Lon Kruger, 75).
* Florida posted a rare 7-point possession early in the second half. Rueben Chinyelu grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt. After review, a hook-and-hold was also called on the rebound. Chinyelu converted all four free throws, then Thomas Haugh hit a 3-pointer on the inbound play.
* Due to a travel mix-up, several players wore different numbers in Saturday’s game: Boogie Fland, #33; Micah Handlogten, #34; Xaivian Lee, #99. It marked the first time #99 has been worn in a game by a Gator. It was also the second time #34 has been worn this season, as Rueben Chinyelu donned the number in the season opener vs. Arizona after his #9 jersey was ripped.
* In their most evenly-matched all-time series, the Gators take a 76-74 edge against the Commodores and are 3-3 under Golden. The win marked UF’s 22nd all-time at Vanderbilt (22-50) and first under Golden (1-2).
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement…
“This is a huge win for our program. First of all, ton of credit to Vanderbilt. They’re a great team, and what Mark (Byington) has been able to do here in a short period of time is, especially in this day and age of college basketball, is really impressive. Be a top-10, 12 team analytically halfway through his second year, I think, speaks volumes about him as a coach, his staff, his players. They’re really good, man. This is a great team here, and it makes me even more proud of our group being able to come in here and find a way to win in a great environment. We showed a lot of grit and toughness today. It wasn’t perfect, but we did a great job on the boards. Credit to Reuben in the second half, and X (Xaivian) Lee late in the game, stepping up, doing what you need guys to do to win a game like this, hitting big shots that aren’t necessarily drawn up, just players making place. And our guys did that today.”
On the jersey changes today…
“We left the jerseys at home….Everything’s under my jurisdiction, but I don’t necessarily check to see if we have the jersey before we leave, so we woke up this morning, didn’t have them, and we scratched, and found a way to make it happen. I would like (Lee) to wear 99 the rest of the year. We’ll see how that goes.”
On Rueben Chinyelu’s second half…
“Offensively in the first half, we played pretty well. We were getting good shots. We scored 44. He just didn’t get a lot of touches throughout the course of that half. At halftime, we talked as a staff about making sure we got him some low block touches, because it calms us down and it slows the game down. It makes the tempo of the game kind of more the way we want to play. So, first half is more on me and the coaching staff for not getting him more touches. In the second half when we did, he took advantage of those opportunities.”
On Alex Condon playing through the crowd getting after him and hitting two big free throws…
“Yeah, Alex is an incredible competitor, man. I think some people might get fazed by the fans yelling at him or chanting at him. I think he enjoys it. I think it rallies him. He’s incredibly tough kid. Like, that’s not going to bother him. He’s just gonna continue to play. Really, really big-time effort by him down the stretch to knock two free throws down and make the game over. A lot of times, those moments are too big for people. You leave it short, you miss them, and now you’re in a situation where you’ve gotta guard and decide if you want to foul or not. He stepped up, made both three throws, and made our jobs as coaches a lot easier the last six seconds of the game. But he’s obviously won a lot in his career. He’s a winning player, and, you know, I feel great having him, Ruby (Chinyelu), and Tommy (Haugh) out there down the stretch to find a way to get us home.”
Sophomore G Isaiah Brown
On having a big game on his 20th birthday…
“An amazing birthday present. That was on my mind, how to bring that win home.”
On Condon’s late-game free throws…
“Before he shot them, I looked at him and said, ‘Calm down. Slow down, take your time.’ He calmed down, slowed down, took his time and made pressure free throws.”
Senior G Xaivian Lee
On winning a game like that…
“It was crazy. It was like no one was getting stops for either team, but I was proud of how we kept composed in that atmosphere. Obviously, it’s nice to win one of those after losing them earlier in the season.”
On his go-ahead 3-pointer…
“I try to shoot every shot with confidence, whether they going in or not. … Late-clock. I think Rueben and Condo were down low and really didn’t have much space to go by them. I just thought, ‘Got to go up.'”
