NIT Season Tip-Off
Barclays Center| Brooklyn, N.Y.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/23/2023.11.22_Florida_vs._Pitt.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/17/2023-24_UFStats.pdf> | Media Resources<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iv6cc1nl98a49pv/AAD_LkZm6hKvVz7FpyboOUR1a?dl=0>
Records: Florida 4-1; Pitt 4-1
Next up for Florida: vs. #13 Baylor – NIT Season Tip-Off (at Brooklyn, N.Y.), Friday, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Notable
* Florida advanced to the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off with Wednesday’s victory.
* Walter Clayton Jr. led the Florida attack with 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting, 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
* Clayton’s six made 3-pointers marked the most by a Gator vs. a power conference opponent since Myreon Jones hit seven vs. Georgia on 2/9/22.
* Tyrese Samuel had a monster game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 9-for-11 from the field. It marked Samuel’s second double-double of the season and his first 20-point game as a Gator (second of his career – 22 vs. Nyack, 12/4/21).
* Clayton and Samuel became the first Florida teammates to post 20 points in a game since Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (27) and Tyree Appleby (21) did so 2/26/22 at Georgia.
* As a team, the Gators posted 24 assists and just eight turnovers, marking Florida’s first performance hitting both of those benchmarks since a 25/7 showing at Texas A&M on 1/2/18. Zyon Pullin led the way in that department with eight assists vs. one turnover, while Riley Kugel matched his career-best with six dimes.
* Florida used an 8-0 run to close the first half and take its first lead of the game with a 39-34 edge at the break, capped by a Thomas Haugh 3-pointer at the buzzer. Another 9-0 second-half run pushed the Gators’ lead to 13 with 9:51 remaining.
* Florida rallied from an early nine-point deficit, 19-10, at the 12:14 mark of the first half. It marks the Gators’ sixth win under Todd Golden after coming back from trailing by eight or more points.
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“Really pleased and really happy with the way we performed tonight. Obviously, we got off to a slow start, losing Micah [Handlogten] in the first minute and a half, not something that was scripted for us. But I was really proud of the way our guys stepped up. Obviously, we played a limited lineup with him out. Came back, did a good job in the first half to get that lead. Tommy [Haugh] hit that big 3 right before halftime, which I thought gave us a lot of momentum going into the second half. I thought we just wore them down a little bit. I thought we did a really good job defensively all night, held them to 35 [percent] from the field, gave up too many 3-pt attempts, but guarded the line pretty well and forced 14 turnovers. Obviously, that kind of spearheaded our run in the second half. And then obviously, Walter Clayton had a fantastic game, 28 points tonight, and did a really good job hitting big shots when we needed them. This is a big win for us. This is going to be one that’s going to go with us all year.”
On the team’s 24-2 fastbreak scoring advantage…
“I think we had to wear them down a little bit. They’re a good team and they did a good job of putting pressure on us, on the glass, which kind of limited our opportunities. But once we started getting those clean rebounds in the second half we have multiple guys who can bring it and make decisions, and that allows us to really push and play with really good tempo. They just weren’t getting back as well as the game went on, as they were early on. I thought we did a good job taking advantage of that.”
On staying composed after Pitt opened the game on a 7-0 run…
“I thought early on our issues were more on the offensive end. We weren’t executing very well. Defensively, I think Blake Hinson banked in a 3 to get them up 7-0, so a little of it was fluky. We knew if we stayed the course that we’d be all right. But I thought the guys did a good job of controlling their emotions and keeping calm through it, and we responded pretty quickly.”
On Micah Handlogten’s injury status…
“Ankle. Hopefully nothing too serious. We’re getting it looked at right now, so we’re waiting to hear what’s going on.”
Junior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On forcing mistakes vs. a young backcourt…
“That was something we talked about on the scout. They’re a young team, and obviously experience plays a lot in this game. That was definitely one of the things we knew and we talked about.”
On what got him going on a hot stretch in the second half…
“Just everybody on the team finding me in my spots. We had, what, 24 assists? We were just finding each other tonight, and glad the shots were falling.”
