Florida 89, Florida State 68
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center| Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/17/2023.11.17_Florida_vs._Florida_State.PDF> | Season Stats<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/6/2023-24_FloridaStatistics.pdf> | Media Resources<https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iv6cc1nl98a49pv/AAD_LkZm6hKvVz7FpyboOUR1a?dl=0>
Records: Florida 3-1; Florida State 2-1
Next up for Florida: vs. Pitt – NIT Season Tip-Off (at Brooklyn, N.Y.), Wednesday, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU
Notable
* Florida posted its third straight win vs. Florida State, improving to 2-0 against the Seminoles under Todd Golden. The Gators raced to a 52-22 halftime lead and kept the margin comfortable despite battling foul trouble in the second half.
* The 21-point margin marked Florida’s largest win in the series since a 72-47 victory in Tallahassee on Dec. 5, 2012.
* Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting and 3-for-8 from 3-point range, adding five assists for the fourth straight game.,
* Grad transfer point guard Zyon Pullin made his UF debut, coming off the bench for 15 points and four assists.
* Freshman Thomas Haugh posted his first career double-figure rebounding game, pulling down a team-leading 10.
* Tyrese Samuel contributed 15 points and seven rebounds despite being limited to 19 minutes of action.
* The Gators posted a +15 rebounding margin, their third straight game with at least a 15-rebound edge.
* Will Richard starred on defense, holding FSU leading scorer Darin Green Jr. to four points on 1-for-9 shooting, 0-for-3 from 3-point range.
Head Coach Todd Golden
On if this was the most complete game he has seen this team play…
“Yeah, I think so probably, definitely the first half is the best half by far, but I think that was an incredibly high level of basketball right there. I thought on both ends, you know we shot 64 [percent] from the field in the first half, 50 from three. Held them to 26 six percent from the field, up 52-22 at halftime. I just thought we played at an insanely high level, and that’s what we have kind of seen at times from our group in the preseason and just really proud of our effort. Obviously in the second half it was a little back and forth, a lot of fouls, a lot of free throws, both ways got a little chippy, which you know, can happen in a rivalry game. But again to, you know, it never got under 20 and that was a statement game for us tonight. I am really proud of our guys for the way they played.”
On what was clicking for the guys and what attributed to that…
“Just thought we played super unselfishly, I thought we played with great pace, thought we got up the floor quickly and took advantage of that and obviously the rotation was tighter in the first half, you know, we played eight. ZP [Zyon Pullin] off the bench was on the perimeter, then kind of rotated those four guys and I just think they got in a really good rhythm and a really good flow. It [stinks] because Julian [Rishwain] has been playing well, Zel [Denzel Aberdeen] has been playing well, Kajus [Kublickas] has given us good minutes. But tonight, we wanted to see what that group was able to do and obviously we got off to such a good start.”
On the chemistry on the court between Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton…
“I thought it was great, but it’s what we have been seeing all Fall. And it’s not just those two. To be honest, I think all four of those perimeters and Zel and Julian really are in this mix as well with Kajus, but they have been really unselfish and respectful of each other’s opportunities. I think that’s really important to be the best team you can be, right? When you have guys that are really unselfish playing for each other, when they are really good players, it makes you dangerous, and I think that’s why we are able to play well in the preseason. I thought we got away from that on Tuesday night or whenever our last game was, but we got back to it tonight in a big-time way. Too many turnovers, disappointed about that, but seventeen assists, I thought we shared the ball really well.”
Grad G Zyon Pullin
On making his debut against Florida State…
“I think today was you know definitely a good game to come back to, a lot of fun, a lot of energy from the crowd. We just fed off of it, and it was just a whole bunch of fun out there.”
On the energy that Thomas Haugh brings when he’s on the court…
“I think we all feed off it, the hustle plays you know the extra possessions is something we all feed off of. He makes a lot of big plays like that, we see if in practice all the time so it’s nothing new for us.”
On what helped them get off to a fast start…
“I think just being locked in first on the defensive side of things, getting stops and letting us get out there and play. Definitely started defensively, and then we were able to have a little fun out there.”
On how much better can the team play than that first half…
“That was pretty good, that was a pretty good first quarter, but just keep finding ways to keep getting better.”
Junior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On how much better the team can play than they did in the first half…
“I still think we’ve got a ways to go. We can get a lot better.”
On what way specifically can the team get better…
“Defensive side of the ball, for sure. We definitely have like a lot of mistakes where we have miscommunication here and there. We just give up free baskets sometimes. I really think as a defense we need to clean some things up.”
On team chemistry…
“I felt like it was great. I could throw it to ZP [Zyon Pullin] and just like I had a couple good passes to him, he had a couple of great passes to me. And just felt like it was great chemistry.”
Freshman F Thomas Haugh
On how difficult it was dealing with the four fouls…
“Right when I got in there and I saw I got my fourth, I just looked over at Coach Golden and he told me to just play my game. I know we have other bigs on the bench and people to come in and take our spot, it’ll be all good.”
On the start to his colligate career…
“I’m just going to go out there and do whatever Coach Golden tells me to do. Whether it’s to get a rebound or set screens, it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter about points or any of that stuff – just whatever I can do to help contribute to help the team win. It’s been a great start so far.”
