‘A great regular season’: Todd Golden reacts to UF's win over Ole Miss

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 5 Florida Gators capped their regular season Saturday with a 90-71 win against Ole Miss on Senior Night. The victory likely locked up a 1-seed for UF in the NCAA Tournament.

Walter Clayton Jr. scored a team-high 23 points and Alex Condon had a doble-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Also playing their last game at home, Alijah Martin scored 13 points and Will Richard added 10.

Here’s everything Florida coach Todd Golden said after the blowout win over the Rebels.

RELATED: Live Blog: Ole Miss Rebels at No. 5 Florida Gators

Opening statement

TODD GOLDEN: “Just incredibly proud of our program. Obviously a great regular season, 27 wins. To go 14-4 in this league and to finish the regular season the way we did today, you know, just can’t say enough about the job that our players did this year and that my staff was able to do from start to finish. And, you know, as we just talked about with our players in the locker room, I want them to be very proud of the effort and the success that we’ve had to this point. But we have a lot of work left to do and a lot of things left to still accomplish, and we’ll get back together Monday, have a great week of practice and get ready to play next Friday in Nashville.”

On going 14-4 in this league: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah, we just have a really good team. I think our guys did a really nice job all year of, you know, our four losses obviously came within SEC play and not allowing one to turn into two. You know, we did a very good job after losses, kind of getting back on track and, you know, playing well and not having any lulls. Our guys did a really good job of preparing, being coachable, allowing our coaches to scout well and hold them accountable all throughout the season. And, you know, I think our success is a direct result of the players in our program and the staff that we have here.”

On the 14-0 run in the second half after it’s a one-possession game, if that was a turning point: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah I mean, that’s when we got away from them, you know, we had some chances in the first half. You know, we got out to a 10 point lead, and thought we had some good momentum. And credit to them, to Ole Miss, they hit a big three, and then we got lost in transition, gave up a and-1 lay-up, they cut it to four, and we just allowed them to get back in the game. And then to start the second half, they made two threes, you know, we didn’t have enough urgency guarding the line at that point. And at that point, we picked it up, made a basket, started getting some stops, got some clean rebounds, some run-outs. Obviously, Walter had a stretch there where he was unguardable, and really kind of took the top off the defense. And, you know, once we were able to get out to that run, you know, we felt pretty good about it the rest of the way.”

On the senior backcourt, what it means for going into the postseason: 

TODD GOLDEN: “I feel really good, you know, having Walt, Will and Alijah out there, you know, being able to play through them and having their experience, and their success and their confidence, and their maturity and their leadership. You know, they’ve been great all year, and I don’t anticipate that changing next week or the week after that.”

On if it was a tough senior day for him: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, all three of those guys have been so impactful to the success that we’ve had, not only this year, but last year, right? And all three in different ways. You know, I’ve talked about it a lot, but Will, when we first got down here, we didn’t know anybody, and we were flying around trying to figure out who we were going to add to the program. The last stop on that first, you know, tour that Coach Kevin Hovde and Coach Jonathan Safir and I had was in Nashville to go see a Belmont transfer named Will Richard. And the funny thing is, out of the six guys that we saw on that trip, he was the only guy that ended up coming to Florida. But, you know, when we first met with him, we’re like, ‘dude, this guy seems awesome’. You know, he seems like our kind of guy. And great attitude, great eye-contact, just super mature, you know, like, if we can get this guy, you know, I think it’d be a really good start. And he came down on a visit, committed and, you know, we got to meet Al and Helen and spend time with them. And we’re like, if we can get guys like this, like, we’re gonna be in good shape here, you know. And so I can’t say enough about him. And then Walt, you know, when you’re trying to turn a program, and you’re trying to, you know, get this program back to where it’s been, you need to hit on some big-time recruits that kind of change the trajectory of your program, and Walter is obviously that, you know. And we had to battle St. John’s and, you know, try to talk him into coming home. And thank goodness his family lives close to here, and he’s a family guy and he loves his family. And, you know, winning that battle was huge for us, and he was fantastic all year for us last year, and I think we can all agree the jump that he’s made this year, in his senior year, moving on the ball. And, you know, in my humble estimation, being the best point guard in America, you know, has been huge for our team this year. And Alijah, you know, he could have gone anywhere. You know, he was – everybody knew, he’s a winner, leader, competitor, you know, had Final Four experience. And when we were able to get him to jump in last spring, we’re like, ‘All right, we feel like we have, like, a really, really tough, physical, mature, backcourt that we can, you know, play with and see what happens.’ And, you know, obviously, won’t have any of those guys next year, but we’re gonna enjoy them as long as we have them this year and see, you know, we’ve got to try to play nine more games, man, that’s the goal right now.” 

On Alex Condon’s play since returning from injury:

TODD GOLDEN: “I mean, he’s been playing well all year. You know, he played great in the Auburn game, the game before his injury. And, you know, goes down early against Mississippi State, taking him little bit to get back. Another huge strength of our team, obviously, our depth, allowing him to stay out of the lineup, you know, not rushing him back, allowing him to get comfortable. And the Georgia game, I thought he played really, really hard, but it was just a little rusty. A&M, the second half, I thought he was great. You know, he just looked like himself. And over these past two games, you know, I think the numbers speak for themselves. He’s had a remarkable week. Hard pressed to find a guy that deserves SEC player the week more than him. And he’s just playing with a lot of confidence right now, shooting the ball well, just really getting on the glass. You know, that’s something that when he’s playing with that reckless abandon, going to the backboard and clearing it, you know he’s on his stuff, and just playing with a lot of confidence right now. It’s fun to see.”

On the rebounding performance:

TODD GOLDEN: “Well, it’s really important because it’s a big part of who we are and what we do, and when we don’t rebound well, we’re not as good. And when you look back at some of the games where we struggled or haven’t played our best, a lot of it has to do with the boards, and we haven’t gained any sort of advantage. Missouri was a great example of that. We didn’t rebound well in the first half. So, it’s a huge advantage for us, but it’s also part of our DNA and part of what makes us who we are. So, as we get to the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, we can’t allow that to slip. It’s an area of the game that’s really important and that we have to continue to make an advantage for us.”

On if he’s seen a senior night performance like Walter Clayton Jr.’s:

TODD GOLDEN: “I guess I’ve had six of them now, and that one stands out, you know, especially that run early in the second half. Talk about playing with confidence, you know, he’s out there just letting it rip. He just is so good with the ball in his hands and makes great decisions. Obviously such a scoring threat that, you know, it’s a luxury that as a staff, we can allow our guys to play with so much freedom and so impressive. What we talked to our guys about after the game, it’s hard to play well on senior night or senior day, whatever it is. You know, there’s a lot of emotion. There’s a lot of family in town. You’re trying to stay consistent with your routine, but you got your ceremony right before the game. Family’s crying, you know, you’re trying to keep everybody together before you go compete against a really physical, really good Ole Miss team. But I thought all three seniors played well. You know, they competed the right way. They played for the team. They got on the glass. They defended. It’s what I expected, but it’s even harder to execute. And all three of those guys did a really nice job with that tonight.”

On UF’s defensive identity and winning despite nine first-half turnovers:

TODD GOLDEN: “At halftime, this would have been a different game last year, right? We had nine turnovers. I think they only had a couple at halftime. I can’t remember how many, but we had a seven-point lead. So, we were able to explain to our guys, like, ‘Listen, way too casual, way too loose with the ball in the first half. If we do a better job taking care of it, we’re going to be in good shape because we did a decent enough job in the glass.’ We defended them well in the first half, held them 30% from the field, limited their attempts from three, didn’t foul them. We fouled them way too much in the second half, but the first half, we did a good job defending without fouling. It’s just made us a much more complete team and allowed us to not have to be perfect on the offensive end to beat good teams.”

On the roster construction on and off the court:

TODD GOLDEN: “It’s a couple things. Obviously from a basketball evaluation, we try to get to the bottom of it really quick, we feel like the players we’re bringing into the program are good enough to help us, and good enough to impact, if they’re older guys, younger guys, we need them to want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. We try to drill down on the basketball piece first, and then it’s pretty simple after that. At this point, and where we have our program, we don’t have to cut any corners when it comes to culture and the type of guys we bring in. We need great attitudes, great work ethics, but most importantly guys that want to be Florida Gators. When you check all three of those boxes, guys play above their expectations. On a micro level, I feel good across the board that everybody in our program right now feels that way. On a macro level, I think you can see that with the way we play for each other. And to me that’s why we were a team that analytically was projected to be like a 30th team this year, top 30ish, think we were 25th in the preseason poll or whatever, and then by the end of the year we’re considered one of  top two or three teams in America after the regular season.”

On defending a smaller Ole Miss lineup:

TODD GOLDEN: “We need to guard it first. Once we did, then I think we punished them a little bit inside and got on the glass. We made it impossible for them to live that way and so they ended up going bigger and to their credit it worked a little bit, they bothered us the last five or six minutes of the game. But the whole thing, when you’re playing a team that plays small you got to be able to defend them. If you can guard them well, then you can impose your will on them offensively and on the glass, then it just doesn’t allow them to play that way. Our guys did a good job, our bigs did a good enough job switching out, being alert off the ball. Pedulla got us a little bit on some step back threes, but we made him make some tough shots. If you just do that possession by possession, you’re gonna wear them down and that’s why we’re able to compete well against their smaller lineup.”

On Florida’s nine-man rotation:

TODD GOLDEN: “It’s a game feel thing, but all those guys will play. Those nine right now. And Sam, we’ll see how he does this week in practice. I just didn’t feel good about putting him out there, he’s still a little sore. I wanted to give him a full week to get back and try to get healthy and see what that looks like at practice next week. That’s the luxury we have; we have some really good frontcourt players that allows him to get back healthy. Those nine are going to get rip, and see how it goes. Depending upon matchups and how the game flow goes, their minutes will fluctuate a little bit.”