Next up for Florida: at Vanderbilt, Saturday, March 9, 4:30 p.m. EST, SEC Network
Notable
* Florida lit up the scoreboard on its way to wrapping up a 14-1 home record for the season, the team’s best since going 17-0 in 2013-14. UF recorded its first 100-point SEC game in regulation since a 114-95 win at Auburn on Feb. 14, 2017.
* Will Richard led five Gators in double figures with 23 points, as Walter Clayton Jr. added 22. Grad transfers Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin chipped in 19 each in their last O’Dome appearance, while Alex Condon added 10 off the bench.
* Florida’s defense limited Alabama to just five made 3-pointers, the Tide’s second-fewest of the season.
* Florida played in front of the team’s sixth sellout crowd of the season, which matches its most since 2017-18.
* Florida picked up its third top-25 win of the season and fifth under Todd Golden. Golden is the only UF coach besides Tommy Bartlett (1966-73) to earn five ranked wins in his first two seasons at the helm.
* The Gators finish the season with a 14-1 home record, the team’s best since going 17-0 in 2013-14. This marks the 11th time in 44 seasons playing at the O’Dome that UF has finished with one or fewer losses (four undefeated seasons, seventh one-loss seasons).
* With Clayton’s 22 points, he has racked up 512 on the season, the first 500-point season by a Gator since Jalen Hudson in 2017-18 and the 39th in team history.
* Zyon Pullin continued his stellar point guard play with three assists vs. zero turnovers, and his 4.26 assist-to-turnover ratio continues to keep a program-record pace.
* Florida shot 40-for-46 from the free throw line, good for 87.0% and its most made free throws since a 40-for-50 performance vs. Morehead State on Dec. 22, 1998. It was UF’s most free throw attempts since a 28-for-46 outing vs. West Virginia at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 4, 2018.
* Florida put up a season-high 27 fastbreak points.
Head Coach Todd Golden
On closing the home schedule on a high note…
“Senior Night, obviously Tyrese [Samuel] and ZP [Zyon Pullin] have been blessings for us all year. But Senior Night can be funky sometimes. You get a lot of energy, a lot of exterior situations happening, and sometimes guys don’t have great games on Senior Night. Fortunately for the Gators, that was not the case tonight. I thought Tyrese was a monster. We had a lot of fun with the fact that he was 9-for-9 from the foul line in the locker room – some big, big free throws to keep that lead where it needed to be. Then ZP, I was actually happy we were able to get him some rest throughout the game. Thirty-three minutes is on the lower side of what he’s been playing for us, and Denzel Aberdeen deserves a lot of credit for that. I thought he had a great game tonight. But ZP, just the steady, calming influence out there. Both those [seniors], just a huge, huge reason as to why we won. But I did think everybody that played tonight contributed to winning. I think that’s something that’s really unique and hard to say after any game. But really, every guy did their job tonight. Just a huge win for us before we get to the tournament, and obviously we finish the regular season against Vanderbilt. For us to finish the year with only one loss in here, a loss against Kentucky where we led most of the game, an incredible year for us in this building. Last, I’ll say this again, our fans have been absolutely incredible. Incredible. Our trainer Duke Werner has been here almost 30 years and said that was one of the best student sections he’s seen in the O’Dome in his time here. You could feel it right before tip, the building had great energy for a Tuesday night tip. I was really proud of our team and really grateful for my staff and the way we executed tonight.”
Junior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On what it means to establish the homecourt advantage going forward…
“I think it means a lot. Obviously, being at home you want to play your best. It shows ourselves what we’re capable of. I feel like we did our job. A lot of people did their job on defense tonight. That’s a great offensive team, and I felt like we did a great job on that end of the floor. We need to be able to take that on the road. We’ve shown ourselves we’re capable of that at home, [now] being able to do it on the road.”
Junior G Will Richard
On the crowd and environment…
“I want to start off by thanking the student section. It was special in there today. Not even just the students, but everybody in that was there. So, just want to start off by thanking them for coming and showing that amount of support.”
Grad F Tyrese Samuel
On the environment…
“Best crowd in the country. Every game, homecourt advantage. We went 14-1 at home. That says a lot, so thank you to everyone that always comes out to the games.”
