‘Great program win for us’: Todd Golden reacts to victory over Vandy

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 6 Florida got back in the win column Tuesday with their 86-75 victory over Vanderbilt. Three Gators scored in double figures, led by Will Richard with 21 points.

Here’s everything Florida coach Todd Golden said after the game.

RELATED: Live Blog: Florida Gators 86, Vanderbilt Commodores 75

Todd Golden Q&A

Opening statement

TODD GOLDEN: “A great program win for us, obviously had to deal with a little adversity not having Walter out there tonight. We had an opportunity for other guys to step up and take advantage of an opportunity created by Walt not being out there. I thought Denzel was fantastic, 35 minutes tonight, no turnovers, did an incredible job controlling the game. Will obviously played great, 21, seven (rebounds), three assists and no turnovers. Condo almost double double again, four assists, zero turnovers. And I’m glad that you guys spoke to Urby. I thought that little run the second half where hit those two 3s back to back to send the game three to nine, or whatever it was, was just huge for us, and a big lift in the time where we needed it the most. And I’m happy for him, as he has exhibited great patience and has been a great teammate all year. You can see how great of a teammate he’s been by the reaction of his teammates when he when he made those shots, they were sprinting out to half court to show him some love. But I honestly, I’m as proud of this win as I am of any of the others this season due to circumstances. Vanderbilt’s very good team. They’re really, really hard to guard, and we stepped up and had a really nice second half.”

On Urban Klavzar’s contributions:

TODD GOLDEN: “We talked to him before the game, and just made sure he understood he’s going to be in the rotation. I feel like I’m a pretty good coach to play for when you’re a shooter. I told him if you don’t shoot when you’re open, you’re going to come out of the game. I thought he passed up one in the first half in front of the bench, he drove the baseline, took a tough floater. I was like, dude, you got to shoot that 3. You were open, you’re one of the best shooters I’ve seen, let it fly. He did in the second half. And once he made that first three, I was pretty confident the second was going to go in. You could tell he felt it a little bit, got a little confidence and just let it rip – and nothing but net on both of them. Those were huge, huge shots for us. And I’m very proud of him.”

On Sam Alexis hitting a 3:

TODD GOLDEN: “That was another big shot, big moment. Listen, it’s one of those where you let it fly, and he just cashed it out. That was another big shot and another great drive from him on the next play to get the and-one. Everybody that played for the most part, gave us a big lift and provided something to help us win tonight.”

On the six-minute stretch in the second half when Vandy went 3-of-13: 

TODD GOLDEN: “We were able to string together a couple stops, got some clean rebounds, finally got some transition, which was huge. And, you know, we were not able to get very many kills tonight, and what I mean by that is three defensive stops in a row. But in the second half, we got two enough, you know, and once we were able to loosen them up in transition – we started scoring pretty well in the second half, we scored 51, so we started getting what we wanted on that end, and we were able to guard them just enough. They still got some stuff. Carey hit that pick and pop three. They ran that good little exit action for McGlockton, that’s kind of one that you got to live with when he hits that three. And, again, once we extended and got over 10, you know, we felt like if we just took care of the rock we would be able to win the game.”

On closing the game on a 14-5 run and wearing them down late: 

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah, I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of some mismatches offensively, especially in the last four minutes. I thought we got Condo three or four high-lows and post feeds where we just kind of let him go make a play, get a catch, and he finished it. You know, Vanderbilt does a very good job forcing turnovers, you know, they’re one of the better teams in America at creating steals, live-ball turnovers, and that was our biggest issue in the first half, you know, we did not take care of it well enough. And then, conversely, in the second half, to only have two turnovers, again, like I said earlier, I thought that was the difference.”

On when they knew Walter Clayton Jr. wouldn’t play: 

TODD GOLDEN: “You know, we didn’t really know until probably, you know, 90 minutes before game time, whatever it was. He tested it out this morning, and again at shootaround, and honestly, looked pretty good. But you could just tell he wasn’t all the way confident and comfortable with it. And, you know, it was a calculated decision that we had to make as a program. Obviously, we would always prefer to have him out there, you know, but we have a lot of season left, and the great thing is, you know, we feel like, with where our program’s at, that we can absorb a game like this where we don’t have him, and I don’t think we would have said that last year. I don’t think we definitely couldn’t have said that in year one. So to be in a position where, you know, as a staff, we can say, ‘all right, we’re obviously going to lose a lot by not having him, but these other guys, you know, we think they can step up and still be enough to help us win the game’.”

On how Denzel Aberdeen handled his first start:

TODD GOLDEN: “I thought he handled it fantastic. You know, no turnovers again, controlled the game. (Tyler) Tanner is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, and he didn’t allow him to force any turnovers on him. And again, he just commanded the game in the second half, you know. We had him start, and a lot of the high-ball screen action, they were putting two on the ball, and he’s strong with it. And he did everything we asked him to do and more tonight.”

On the play of Sam Alexis:

TODD GOLDEN: “Yeah, yeah, he did a great job in his minutes in the second half. I thought he stepped up, and, you know, listen, he’s playing the fourth amount of minutes in the frontcourt, and sometimes his minutes are a little shorter, and you know we gave him a good rip in the second half and he took advantage of it. But that’s the expectation, you know, that’s where our program is right now. Any guy we put in the game, we expect them to play well.” 

On no turnovers by Denzel Aberdeen or Will Richard:

TODD GOLDEN: “We talked about it a lot. That was a big part of this win. We knew we had to have great ball control tonight, and we were without our point guard. And to be able to come out of this game with only 10 turnovers, was definitely a huge reason as to why we won.”

On three Jewish head coaches among the top 6 teams:

TODD GOLDEN: “It’s just cool. It’s definitely something that I’m proud of. I think it’s a really unique situation and it’s cool to see. Obviously, I know Jon (Scheyer) pretty well, but Bruce (Pearl) is family to me. One of my mentors. Bruce also coached me in 2009 in Israel in the Maccabiah Games. I know. Steven, his son, is one of my best friends. I owe a lot to them in terms of my success as a coach. Don’t really know what else to say about it except I’m proud to be coaching Florida and doing well. And I’m excited to try to beat Bruce on Saturday.”

On the step Will Richard has taken this year:

TODD GOLDEN: “He wouldn’t let me take him out in the second half. I tried a couple of times, and he wasn’t having it. And he’s earned it. It’s one of the advantages of playing for a guy like me. Guys like him, Walt, Mart, when they got it going and I go to maybe get them a rest, if they feel like they can stay out there and keep playing at a high level, I’m gonna let them do it. And I’m gonna ride with those guys. And Will didn’t have his best game on Saturday and we could have done a better job as a staff of trying to manufacture some looks for him. But again, talking about the growth, for him to come back and have a game like this on a night where we needed him the most was absolutely huge for us. And obviously Walt gets a lot of credit, he deserves it. A-Mart gets a lot of credit, he deserves it. Will is just, he’s part of that group for me. He’s in that trio and he deserves as much love and respect as those other guys for what we’ve been able to do this year.”