‘We found a way’: Todd Golden reacts to Florida's victory over Tigers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With an 83-74 win over Missouri on Wednesday, Florida posted its first 20-win regular season since 2017-18 when the Gators were 20-11 heading into postseason play. It also marks the first season since 2016-17 that UF has notched its 20th win before February closes.

Here’s everything Florida coach Todd Golden said after the victory over the Tigers.

Todd Golden Q&A

On winning a tough game like this going into March:

Golden: “I felt like this was going to be really challenging game for us. Obviously, Missouri hasn’t had success in league yet, but it’s kind of crazy to me that they haven’t. They’re talented. They’ve obviously been dealing with a lot of injuries, so they may be playing some guys out of position a little bit. But when you’re staring at East and Bates and Connor coming downhill at you all night, they have really good size around the rim, and they played really good zone against us. It’s a team that can take you out of your stuff and bother you a little bit. I thought the first half we played really well but we didn’t make shots. So, we’re up nine and a couple threes go and we’re 15 instead. That’s what it kind of felt like at halftime. So, the message to our guys was, hey let’s keep digging back in and be consistent I need 20 more minutes like that, and we’ll be in really good shape. The way that a second half started just was not in our favor. We miss a good look, they cut it to six, before it’s a one-possession game. Walt gets banged with 14 minutes to go, he’s out, and now we’re in a much different situation than we envisioned being in coming out of halftime. So I was proud of our guy, I felt we were pretty gritty down the stretch. We didn’t lose confidence even though we had trouble attacking the zone for a little bit. I think we made 11 out of our last 13 field goals attacking the zone really well. Obviously, Tyrese was a grown man tonight. He did an incredible job, 28 points, 10 rebounds. ZP was great as well. Two seniors really stepped up tonight and we found a way.”

On the senior leadership from Pullin and Samuel:

Golden: “Again, they were just awesome. In tight moments, you want your experience guys to step up and shoulder a little more than load. We did a good job putting Tyrese in the high post and getting him catches in the paint, where he’s just a great decision maker and a really good playmaker. Obviously his finishes, but he also had some really good passes out of there and good decisions. They stepped up and made big shots. We had that stretch. I think Will hit that big three in the corner to kind of get himself off the schneid and then ZP hit back-to-back, that kind of gave us some good momentum and some juice back. Then down the stretch we made 11 our last 13 field goals, we found a way in a second half where we weren’t at our best.”

On Missouri’s Connor Vanover hitting 3s:

Golden: “Vanover can do it, man. Vanover was a Team USA guy coming out of high school. Really talented player, had a great freshman year at Cal and then transferred and kind of got lost. Played great at Oral Roberts last year, third school for him. He’s been playing better. It’s interesting. They were a little unpredictable coming to the game. He didn’t play for two or three games in a row, and then played like 14 minutes in the second half of their last game. So,, we figured he’d be getting a little more minutes and a little more time. But if he plays like that, which he’s capable of, obviously it just changes the complexion of their team. He was 12 and six in 23 minutes, he was plus 10. We obviously couldn’t do much with him when he’s on the floor.”

On the explanation for Walter Clayton Jr.’s technical that and fouled him out:

Golden: “They said he used bad language towards the bench. I’m not going to comment on that.”

On the career-high performance from Tyrese Samuel:

Golden: “It felt great. absolutely fantastic. Good timing. He was good in the first half, he had 12 and six at halftime. I felt his motor was running really high. When his motors running like that, he’s just one of the best frontcourt players in the league. And again, zone there’s only so many different things you can draw up against the zone, you got to have some feel, you got to have some good decision making and be a basketball player. I felt like that showed big time for him in those moments just with his tight catches, and then his tight moves and tight space being able to put it in with either hand, and-one finishes. That dunk, I can’t remember who he punched it on, but that should be a SportsCenter Top 10 play for sure tonight. I felt like his experience really showed in that moment.”

On a bounce-back game for Micah Handlogten:

Golden: “I was thrilled. His first really good gaming league was against Missouri, as well. He got on the glass for us that game and did a really good job creating second-chance opportunities and rim finishing, which he did again tonight. So obviously he didn’t give us a great game against Vandy, but we felt like he would bounce back and have a good effort tonight. The reason with Micah and Tyrese playing so well that’s really why you know Condo and Tommy didn’t play as much as they have been. We just kind of wet with the hot hand, especially down the stretch.”

On Nick Honor not scoring after Kugel was put on him:

Golden: “I thought he did a pretty good job. They were obviously going to East a lot, and let him play out of his ball screens. He was beating us with twos but at certain points we’re going to live with that, a little bit. So being on Honor, he was loose for a corner 3 that he missed but he was someone that had gotten going and obviously being able to cut his water off and really the key for him was defending him without fouling him down the stretch. He had all but two of his free throws in the second half, so kind of shutting his water off was important for us.” 

On if UF need games like this to toughen up before March:

Golden: “No. I mean, I like to use them as teaching experiences and obviously it’s a lot easier to do that after a win than a loss. But you know I felt like this game was one of those where every conversation was like, ‘Hey you guys have been great in these situation all year, you guys are worried about this one being where you don’t give great effort’. Like every conversation we had not just with you guys but just like with my dad, ‘Are you worried?’ Yeah, I’m worried. Missouri is pretty good. They are good. They are talented, they have a good coach, they know what they are doing, they have a system. We’re a very good team, obviously ranked two weeks in a row, some big time wins, but we’re not the number one team in America yet. We’ve got a lot of improving to do and understanding, I just felt like we weren’t as consistent tonight as we have been all year and so we have an ability to teach from this moment and fortunately we didn’t get stuck with a loss in the meantime.”

On getting to 20 regular season wins:

Golden: “I’d say we’re on a pretty good trajectory at the moment, you know, really hard to do, 17-18, I think that as the Elite Eight team (Round of 32) but it’s been a while like 20 is hard to do especially in the regular season we’ve got three opportunities all will be very challenging but I’m proud of where our program is at, a lot of credit to my staff, I feel like year one, we did a good job but obviously the on court success wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but I do think our staff has improved a lot and a lot of it is just comfort, working together, another year, but they stepped it up, and obviously our players they are the ones at the end of the day are responsible for the wins they are the ones on the court, making the plays and getting the stops, so they’ve done their part and the thing that we keep talking to our guys about is not being satisfied where we are at, we couldn’t be satisfied going into this game, we had 19 wins, we are 9-5, in the league, we can’t be satisfied we got to 10 league wins, We still have three great opportunities, dependent on what happens across the league tonight we can still challenge for the league, if the right things happen and break our way we could still challenge for a top four seed in the SEC Tournament which getting a double bye would be a great accomplishment for us in year two so, I feel like we have a lot left, with that being said I’m really happy with where we are and what we’ve done to this point.”

On an unexpected top-25 matchup vs. USC:

Golden: “I know their personnel but not super, super deeply yet. But I think Lamont has done an incredible job this year. He went out, added some really good transfers that were system fits. He’s got his young guys playing really well. They have a great freshman, Murray-Boyles, who’s playing his butt off. One of the better young guys in the league. And they have an identity. They come out, they’re physical, they guard you, they make you earn everything offensively. And then on the other end, they play really well together. I feel like they’re very connected offensively. There’s no selfishness. They don’t take a lot of bad shots. They move the ball really well and they grind you out. And I feel like Saturday is gonna be a little bit of a clash of styles. And if we can do a good job pushing tempo and keeping pace up, I think that would benefit us. If we get stuck in halfcourt in a grind-it-out game, I think that’s going to benefit them. But it’s a big game at this point of the year. Obviously whoever wins this, they’ll probably give themselves the advantage against the other opponent in terms of seeding down the stretch. And I feel comfortable speaking for Lamont that he’d be really happy if they finish in the top four also.”

On proving the experts wrong:

Golden: “I don’t know. I feel, again, this is a great program. This is a great opportunity for me. And we worked really hard to systematically get better on a daily basis. Obviously last year we had some ups and downs. This year’s been pretty consistent. But there was still some doubt going into conference play. Like, how good this team was and how good we could be. But I feel like we’ve done a good job of kind of fighting that criticism. You know, going on the road winning at Kentucky. It’s really hard to do. You see how well they’re playing. The way we played in here against Auburn. To do a great job to get to 10-5. Yeah, I’m pleased, but I’m definitely not satisfied with where we’re at.”

On if UF is where he thought it would be:

Golden: “That’s a tough question. I think we’re maybe a little ahead. I would have hoped to make the tournament this year, but you go and look at the coaches in this league that have had a lot of success, it takes a while to get good. I think Bruce’s first tournament team was Year 4. I think Rick Barnes’ first tournament team was Year 3. Nate’s was Year 2. Cal was Year 1. I think Buzz was 4 or 5. It’s really hard, especially with how good the league is at the top with Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky. Like, it’s not that easy to break into that mix, especially considering every single one of those programs that I just mentioned, their coach has been there for a long time, and they have very sustained programs and sustained success. So, for us to be in that equation, yeah, I think we’re a little ahead of where we quote unquote should be in Year 2. But what does that matter? Like, what does it mean? We’re gonna be judged on how we finish the year anyways and you’ll forget we ever had this conversation.”