Todd Golden praises Florida forward Thomas Haugh: 'That boy balled today, didn't he?'

Florida entered Saturday’s game against former coach Mike White and Georgia on a roll, having won six of its last seven games. For a hot minute, though, it looked like that run of success might come to an end.

Georgia made its first eight shots in the contest and jumped out to a six-point lead at halftime.

Coach Todd Golden was heated at his team’s lack of defense.

“We had two very lackluster defensive halves in a row with our giving up 46 to LSU on Wednesday and then giving up another 46 spot in the first half today. That’s just garbage,” Golden said on the SEC Network. “Not good enough.

“The guys got an earful at halftime and we really just challenged them because we knew if we did a better job on the defensive end that we would have a really good chance to win. So that was kind of the message and talking about, ‘if you want to stay on the floor you better guard somebody.’ And we did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Florida surged in front early in the second half and then held on for the win, not allowing the road crowd to really get into the game down the stretch.

It wasn’t always pretty, and Florida went through some spurts of ineptitude. But whenever it seemed the Gators needed a bucket, an unlikely face emerged.

Big man Thomas Haugh scored a career-high 17 points while recording seven rebounds.

“That boy balled today, didn’t he? He got after it,” Golden said. “Hey, he’s been really good for us all year, to be honest. He’s been really good defensively. And after evaluating our games, the last couple, he’s just been so good for us. He guards, he gives us a little toughness, a little rebounding. And he can really shoot it. He’s the type of guy being young makes every three in practice and then we get in games and it’s a struggle. But he played his butt off today and he’s the reason why we won.”

Florida has built a deep bench, with several capable guards and bigs. The team rotates four big men, and Golden joked that going that deep on the bench can be an issue for him personally.

“I just know at the end of the day a couple of those guys are going to be pissed at me for a couple hours after, but it’s been a great mix of all of them,” Golden said. “Every single one deserves a lot of credit for why we’ve been successful the way we have.

“Tonight I just thought Tommy and (Alex) Condon were really, really active. They were a big part of that run early in the second half that got us the lead, so I was going to let those boys finish it up today.”

When the dust settled, Florida walked away with an 88-82 win, a win that keeps Florida in the hunt in the SEC title race and on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Want to really get into the SEC race and it’s completely up to the Gators. Next up is a road trip to face league leader Alabama, which boasts a 10-2 conference mark. Florida trails at 8-4 in SEC play, but the Gators will face the Crimson Tide twice in the final six regular season games.

It’s an opportunity.

“They’re a juggernaut offensively. They are really hard to guard,” Golden said of Alabama. “I’m not sure there’s a system or a style that’s going to slow them down, especially on their home floor. But I’ll be honest, getting this one done today takes a little pressure off that one for us Wednesday. We can go in there with some freedom and try to get an upset on the road.”