Florida 97, Quinnipiac 72
Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center | Gainesville, Fla.
Box Score<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/12/30/2023.12.30_Florida_vs._Quinnipiac.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 10-3; Quinnipiac 9-4
Next up for Florida: #8 Kentucky, Saturday, Jan. 6, 12:30 p.m., ESPN
Notable
* Florida unleashed a barrage from 3-point range in the first half, hitting 9 of 18 attempts beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes.
* Will Richard scored 15 of his season-high 22 and Zyon Pullin had all 16 of his points in the first half, as the duo outscored Quinnipiac over the first 20 minutes.
* Tyrese Samuel finished with 11 points and surpassed the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career, including 815 at Seton Hall and 186 at UF.
* Florida reached 10 nonconference wins for the third time over the past decade, also reaching the mark in 2016-17 and 2021-22.
* UF wraps its nonconference slate on a six-game winning streak, matching the team’s longest since opening the 2021-22 campaign with six straight victories. The 6-0 marks the team’s second undefeated month over the last 10 years (6-0, Nov. 2021)
* The Gators completed their first undefeated home nonconference schedule (6-0) since 2013-14, excluding a pair of 1-0 seasons (2016-17, O’Dome renovation; 2020-21, COVID).
Head Coach Todd Golden
On building a big lead early on…
“I thought for all 40 minutes, for the most part until the last couple, we played really well offensively. We just didn’t rebound well early, weren’t very physical. I thought we lacked physicality early, and that was the biggest thing. We didn’t get 50-50s early. We didn’t do a great job on the glass. Even though we were building a lead, that was what was keeping it close. So once we did a better job securing those live-ball rebounds, we were able to run away from them a little bit. Offensively, I thought we played really, really well, really purposeful, really unselfish, and I feel like we’re growing and getting better that way.”
Grad G Zyon Pullin
On finishing nonconference strong and pulling away…
“I think that it was just taking what the defense gave us. We had some open looks, took them, and knocked them down. It was a good feeling to see them go in, especially headed into conference play, and to keep this momentum going.
Junior G Will Richard
On the importance of the game…
“I say it was big, especially coming off of break, sometimes you can take a day off and feel like you come back lazy and not be in the rhythm. It was definitely a huge win for us, and for us to go undefeated this month.
