Florida 90, Arkansas 68
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2024/1/13/Gamebook.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 11-5, 1-2 SEC; Arkansas 9-7, 0-3 SEC
Next up for Florida: at #5 Tennessee, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 4 p.m., ESPN
Notable
* In front of a sellout crowd, Florida used an early 22-2 run to build a 27-9 lead at the 10:31 mark of the first half and never let Arkansas closer than nine the rest of the game.
* Carrying a 13-point lead at halftime, 46-33, the Gators kept the pressure on with an 11-4 run to open the second half and extend their lead to 20 and led by as many as 25.
* The Gators used a balanced offensive attack as five Gators scored in double figures for the fourth time this season: Riley Kugel (20), Tyrese Samuel (17), Zyon Pullin (15), Will Richard (13) and Walter Clayton Jr. (11).
* Samuel added 11 rebounds to go with his 17 points, marking his seventh double-double of the season, while Pullin matched a season-high with eight assists vs. one turnover.
* The Gators owned the boards with a +17 rebounding margin, 48-31, as Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten both added nine boards. Condon also blocked three shots to match his career high.
* Zyon Pullin reached the 1,500-point career scoring mark today, with 1,312 points scored at UC Riverside and 197 at UF.
* The Gators improve to 15-3 at home all-time vs. Arkansas, winning 15 of the last 16 meetings in Gainesville.
Head Coach Todd Golden
On the home crowd…
“They did an incredible job of being present, being loud. One of the best home court advantages in college basketball is here in Gainesville, and I’m grateful for the way they supported our guys today and I’m proud of the way our guys responded in front of them. I just wanted to make sure that our fans understand how much I appreciated them today.”
On Riley Kugel’s impact…
“We met and made sure we had a good understanding of what the expectations would be moving forward. It was just kind of a reset, recalibration and it was needed. It happens. It’s a long season. Things can go up, they can go down, but the reality is we are not the best version of ourselves unless Riley Kugel is playing well. You guys can see with your own eyes today the way he attacked the game. You can tell from the jump that this guy was going to have a good effort and a good night. He just played incredibly well. Obviously, the offense was really good, but he continues, when locked in like that, to be an elite defender. He was +21 in the game in 26 minutes, obviously really efficient tonight offensively. When he plays like that, our ceiling, obviously, gets a lot higher.”
On the team’s mindset & everyone being grateful for their role…
“We all need to be more that way probably. This is a stressful profession. It’s a stressful business. Not only for us as coaches, but for the players and there are generally a lot of expectations, a lot of things that each of us, whether it’s coaches or players, deal with that people don’t see on a daily basis. I felt great after we met on Thursday because I felt that we were back centered and had a good understanding of what needed to happen.”
Sophomore G Riley Kugel
On his explosive bounce-back performance, and what this game meant to him…
“It felt good, to just be back out there with the guys. Just a good team win… It definitely is a confidence booster for sure, but just being back out there with the team, in the group, that’s all you could really ask for.”
Junior G Will Richard
On the importance of the win for the team…
“It was really important. We knew that we had to go in today very aggressive, we had to make a big adjustment on defense, and it was just about coming out and playing with effort, playing together, and holding each other accountable.”
On what can and should translate to the game on Tuesday against Tennessee…
“Our togetherness. We held each other accountable, we communicated on both ends of the floor, and that started with our week of practice. We came in, after the Ole Miss loss, and we all decided that we had to make a change, we’ve got to hold each other accountable and work hard.”
Grad F Tyrese Samuel
On what Coach Golden emphasized in the second half…
“In practice, Coach kept telling us that we gave up 50 points in the second half [59 vs. Ole Miss], and he made that the emphasis. So, our goal was to go out there and make sure that doesn’t happen again. We made sure it didn’t happen again, and we came away with a win.”
