‘This team has shown great resolve’: Todd Golden reacts to win at MSU

Despite being down two starters Tuesday, the No. 3 Florida Gators overcame an early injury and a halftime deficit to run away with an 81-68 win over No. 22 Mississippi State.

UF opened the second period with a 17-0 run — its second-largest of the season — and outscored the Bulldogs 41-16 after halftime to build a 24-point lead.

Five Gators scored in double figures for the second straight game and Florida posted top-25 road wins in consecutive games for the first time in program history.

Here’s everything Golden said after the Gators’ victory over MSU.

RELATED: Live Blog: No. 3 Florida Gators vs. No. 22 Mississippi State

Todd Golden Q&A

Opening statement: 

TODD GOLDEN: “I’m incredibly proud of our team. Really incredibly proud of our program. I thought our coaches have done a great job of preparing our players, instilling a level of mental toughness and physical toughness into our group all year. And, you know, I feel like over the last couple of weeks it’s really come together for our team and the way we played. In this last three game stretch, you know, after the Tennessee loss, beating Auburn and then coming in against a very, very good Mississippi State team, and controlling the game, you know, getting the lead as big as 24 in the second half, losing Condo 30 seconds in the game, not having AMart tonight, our team has continued to show a great next-man-up mentality. And I’m just very proud, I’m proud. We gotta keep it going. It’s not gonna be easy, but this team has shown some great resolve over the last week and a half.”

On Alex Condon’s injury: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Good news on the X-Ray, it came back clean. At this time, we think it’s a low ankle sprain, which is obviously better than a high ankle sprain, or anything more serious. It did not look good, you know, I didn’t like the play. I thought it was a dirty play, you know, it was exacerbated by the pull-down, the horse collar. And really disappointing for that to happen to one of your very good players early in the ball-game, and at the same time I think it lit a fire under our group. I thought we responded the right way, and I thought our guys did a heck of a job of stepping up in his absence.”

On getting out in transition in the second half: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah, well I thought we played pretty well offensively in the first half. I thought we played pretty well defensively. We did not make shots in the first half. We were six-for-20 from three, but we got good looks. We were playing the right way, we played how we wanted to, defensively held them to 33. Our issue was rebounding. We were minus-10 in the first half on the glass, and the conversation at halftime was, offensively we’ been good enough, we’ll make some shots. Defensively we’ve been good enough, but we were not gonna win this game if we allow them to out-rebound us again in the second half. And that was gonna be the determining factor, and the fact that we finished only, you know, minus-11, so only one, you know, rebound disadvantage in the second half, I thought was huge. In the first five minutes of the second half, we did a great job of getting misses and not allowing them to get second chances. We were able to get out and transition, which we weren’t able to do in the first half enough.”

On Tommy Haugh’s continued progression: 

TODD GOLDEN: “He’s a very good player, man. I don’t have to tell you. He’s obviously been coming on all year, and we’ve talked about this a lot, Chris, obviously, he’s a starter level player, you know. We just have a very good team this year, and we have multiple guys that can do it, but Tommy is, you know, one of the guys that delivers the heartbeat for this team, and the passion in which he plays, the toughness, the consistency, of being as coachable as he is to go out and execute on the floor what the coaches want him to do is everything. And for him to go 16, nine and eight with two blocks and two steals. It’s an elite effort for him tonight.”

On Denzel Aberdeen’s performance: 

TODD GOLDEN: “You know, similar to Tommy, right? Like he doesn’t start for us, but he’s a starter-level player, and he’s played like an all-league player for the past couple games stepping up. And again, just a guy that’s improved dramatically, you know, in his time in Gainesville, and he’s just playing with so much poise and confidence right now and just his ability to get in the paint and play off two feet, finish around the rim, hit big threes, been very good defensively. I thought he did a great job in his minutes on Hubbard and, you know, these guys are maturing into very good players right now.” 

On Walter Clayton Jr.:

TODD GOLDEN: “Listen, we’re undermanned a little bit, we only have seven guys playing and he played like a First Team All-American again tonight. 19, six and six, you know, just another incredibly efficient game. Six assists, one turnover, plus-21. Guarding, rebounding down, you know, five defensive rebounds, and, you know, I can’t say enough about him. He’s an amazing player, he’s gonna be playing the NBA next year, and we’re gonna enjoy him, you know, as long as we have him here in Gainesville.”

On the program’s first-ever consecutive win streak on the road against ranked opponents: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Nice little road trip for the Gators. We talked about it after we beat Auburn, you can’t relax, you know, we are competing to win the league. We were two games behind Auburn and Alabama going into tonight. I don’t know how they did yet, but they play each other on Saturday, and I think they play each other again towards the end of the year, right? They got two more against each other, they got – Alabama has a very difficult schedule. Winning a game like this allows you to stay in that conversation, you know, as we get to a little two game home stand.”