Records: Florida 20-14 (9-9 SEC); Xavier 20-13 (8-11 Big East)
Notable
* Florida wrapped its 2021-22 campaign with a second-round NIT loss at Xavier, as Kowacie Reeves led the Gators with 14 points.
* Colin Castleton and Tyree Appleby added 10 points each. Castleton finished the season with double-figure scoring in 27 of his 28 appearances (nine vs. Maryland).
* Newly-hired head coach Todd Golden joined the ESPN broadcast via Zoom during the first half. (See below for selected quotes from the conversation.)
Interim Head Coach Al Pinkins
On the difference in the game:
“I thought we turned the ball over too many times. You turn the ball over fifteen times on the road, it’s hard to win anywhere. I thought they took advantage of all of our turnovers. For us, our M.O. is to turn it over ten or less, especially on the road, and give yourself a chance to win. I thought turnovers really hurt us.”
On the postgame locker room:
“Hard way to go out, but I’m proud of these guys. I didn’t really talk basketball in our postgame talk. We kind of talked life with these guys. They’ve been through a lot for young men, and it’ll make them stronger. I talked to our seniors that are leaving, those guys have been through so much this year. I just think those guys will all be successful. I kind of made it not about the game tonight – threes, misses, makes. I wanted to send those guys out with a little something positive.”
On what he takes from it:
“You’re going to have adversity in life, and that’s what we talked to these guys about from the start of the year. You’re going to have some lows and some highs, and we’ve had a couple lows here lately. And this is a low. They need to learn from it, learn from the coaching situation that’s going on, and it’ll make them better guys. Good group in that locker room back there. I’m proud of them. We didn’t play the way we were capable of playing today, but I’m proud of that group. Won twenty games, has a lot to be proud of, beat a good Iona team last week, they have a lot to be proud of.:
New Head Coach Todd Golden (via ESPN Broadcast)
On the last few days for him:
“It was a wild week, and one that I’ll never forget, obviously. Really proud of the season that we had at San Francisco and getting that program back on the map and getting back to the tournament, someplace it hadn’t been in a long time. Obviously, when you have success at a place where it’s not normally going on you get a little bit of interest. I’m just incredibly fortunate and thrilled that Scott Stricklin and his staff felt comfortable with me, and I’m just pleased to be the guy.”
On the most enticing thing to him about the Florida job:
“I think it’s one of the best jobs in America, and I think it’s a place you can perennially compete for national championships. It’s the best school in Florida, and it’s a place where there’s a ton of great players, great tradition and history, as you mentioned before we got together coaches like Lon Kruger and Billy Donovan, guys that I have an incredible amount of respect for. For instance, Coach Donovan was winning national championships. It’s a place where you can do that if you get the right people on board, so as I said, when this opportunity came about I jumped at it as fast as possible.”
On the ability to roster-build through the transfer portal:
“It’s a great point. The game of college basketball has changed more in the last two years than it had in the previous twenty. The transfer portal, whether people like it or not, is a very important part of our profession now and our business and, as you mentioned, building rosters. I’m going to do my best to keep the guys within the program on board and get them to continue building stronger as we move forward. There are going to be some additions through the portal, and there’s going to be some guys that are really excited to come play at Florida. I’m excited to get my feet on the ground there and get going.”
