Next up for Florida: Merrimack College, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m., SEC+
Notable
* Riley Kugel’s 24 points led the Gators, as the sophomore posted his second straight 20-point game (25 vs. Baylor). Kugel shot 9-for-14 from the field and 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
* Zyon Pullin, Walter Clayton Jr. and Tyrese Samuel each added 12 points for UF, and Samuel had a team-leading eight rebounds.
* Freshman forward Thomas Haugh made his first career start as Micah Handlogten was out with an ankle injury. UF has now used three different starting lineups throughout the season and played at full strength just one game (vs. FSU).
* The Gators end with a split vs. their four ACC opponents during the month of November with wins vs. Pitt and Florida State.
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening statement…
“After we got up by nine in the second half we had multiple opportunities to extend that thing into double figures. I think one turnover, one good shot that we missed just allowed them to have a little hope and a little belief, as opposed to being able to close them out. A good team, with a veteran backcourt and a really good coach. Those guys aren’t going to go away unless you make them, and we just weren’t ever able to really get that thing over that hump. To their credit, they made some big shots and allowed themselves to climb back in that thing.”
On the team’s defensive performance…
“I thought we did a great job in the first half. Limited them to 40 percent from the field, 32 points. In the second half, they made a lot of 2s, a lot of tough 2s, and obviously they shot 20 free throws in the second half. We did a good job of defending the 3-point line – 6-for16, I’ll take that – got to limit them to a lower percentage from 2. And, obviously, they shot 29 free throws, so that’s going to be an efficient way to score. We obviously have to do a better job of defending without fouling.”
On what makes Hunter Sallis a difficult defensive matchup…
“Three-level scorer. Plays with good pace. Poised. Obviously, he comes from a really good program over that at Gonzaga, so he’s used to winning and understands what it takes. I don’t feel like you can speed him up – he kind of picks his spots. I thought we did a good job actually early on him, and then a couple broken plays led to him getting shots and some points that got him going a little bit. But down the stretch, he hit some really, really tough pull-ups that, I think when we go back and watch film we might need to live with some of those pull-ups that he put in. But he had a great effort tonight.”
