Todd Golden reacts to Florida's ‘statement’ win over FSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida posted its third straight win vs. Florida State with Friday’s 89-68 victory, improving to 2-0 against the Seminoles under Todd Golden. The Gators jumped out to a 52-22 halftime lead and kept a comfortable lead in the second half despite battling foul trouble.

The 21-point margin marked Florida’s largest win in the series since a 72-47 victory in Tallahassee on Dec. 5, 2012. Here’s everything Golden said after his team’s victory over the Seminoles.

Todd Golden Q&A

On if this is Florida’s most complete game including the scrimmages:

Golden: “Yeah, I think so. Definitely the first half is the best half, by far. I think that was an incredibly high level of basketball we played. I thought at both ends, you know, we shot 64 from the field in the first half, 50 from three, held them to 26 percent from the field. 52-22 at halftime, I just thought we played at an insanely high level, and that’s what we had kind of seen at times from our group at preseason, and just really proud of our effort. Obviously the second half was a little back and forth, a lot of fouls, a lot of free throws, both ways got a little chippy, which can happen in a rivalry game. But again, it never really got under 20, and that was a statement game tonight for us. I’m really proud of our guys for the way they played.”

On what he attributes the fast start to:

Golden: “Just thought we played super unselfishly, thought we played with a great pace, thought we got up the floor quickly and took advantage of that. And, you know, obviously the rotation was tighter in the first half, you know, we played 8. ZP off the bench, he’s the only perimeter, and then kind of rotated those four guys, and just think they got in a really good rhythm, a really good flow, and it sucks because Julian’s been playing well, ‘Zel has been playing well, Kajus has given us good minutes, but, you know, tonight I wanted to see what that group was able to do and obviously got off to such a good start it’s hard to go in a different direction after that, so, yeah.” 

On the chemistry between Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr.:

Golden: “I thought it was great, but we’ve been seeing it all fall, you know, and it’s not just those two, you know, to be honest. I think all four of those perimeters, and ‘Zel and Julian are really in this mix as well along with Kajus, but they’ve been really unselfish and respectful of each other’s opportunities, you know, I think that’s really important, to be the best team you can be, even when you have guys that are really unselfish playing for each other. When they’re really good players, it makes you dangerous, and I think that’s why we were able to play well in preseason. I thought we got away from that on Tuesday night or whenever our last game was, but we got back to it tonight in a big-time way. Too many turnovers, but 17 assists, I thought we shared the ball really well.”

On the fearlessness from freshmen Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh:

Golden: “I don’t want to say I expected them to play that well, you know, but Tommy played 27 minutes, you know, he’s the only big there who wasn’t sitting in foul trouble there for a little bit, so we had to rip him pretty good in the second half, but they’re both wise beyond their years. I think they both have a really good sense, a really good feel for the game, and they definitely are not afraid to fail, you know. Condo is definitely not afraid to fail, which is a great thing for a really talented young player, and you’re gonna live with some of his mistakes when he can do what he does. Tommy is kind of like your super solid rock, right, just all the defensive plays. Double-digit rebounds tonight, moves the ball, easy to play with, two blocks, but, you know, both those guys, like I said, I told you guys before, neither of them were ranked. They weren’t guys that were highly decorated recruits, but I think a lot of people would want to have them on their team.” 

On the poise UF showed with all the bigs in foul trouble:

Golden: “I mean, yeah, we just had to play through it. Obviously, as you guys know, I’m not going to sit guys with two in the first half, and we ended up with two guys with three. I didn’t feel like, especially in the second half, we could never really get ahead of that. We just kept, you know ‘we’re in foul trouble, foul trouble, foul trouble.’ We’re trying to play Tyrese through four, Micah through four. It definitely hurt us in the second half. It made us less aggressive. I think it was the reason why we got beat up on the boards like we did. But again, speaks to what Thomas [Haugh] was able to do to stay out there as long as he did. You know, we survived it. That’s the best way I can say how.”

On the Gators making the extra pass against FSU:

Golden: “It was very critical tonight. I think it’s very critical in every game. But we were moving it. It was hot. Second half, we got a little sticky just cause their pressure was really starting to. They were taking some chances running through some passing lanes, and I thought we got a little tentative with our attack. But yeah, something that we had to maybe be mindful of, but we were definitely looking for the extra pass, looking for the open guy, and we took advantage of it.”

On chippiness tonight and the Gators playing with an edge:

Golden: “You know, obviously, within the framework of the rules and not dirty, that’s what I want our team to be. You know, that’s kind of what I pride myself on as being pretty competitive. And I want our guys to embody that as well. And I think we have guys that are that way. I’m glad we didn’t lose our composure and, you know, get any extracurricular stuff when they took ZP down in the corner. I thought him and Micah handled that really well. And then, obviously, through the rest of the game and after the game, I thought our guys were mature and respectful and responsible, but yeah, I wanted us to play with an edge.”

On what is the “statement” from this win:

Golden: “What is the statement? First of all, I think Florida State’s good. I think they’re a lot better than they were last year. So, you know, obviously, watch both their games that they played so far, and they were rolling people. They’re up 30 in the first half against Kennesaw or one of those teams. They won by 27 in both games. So, this was a different team than we played last year at their place. A much better team. I think this team will be, you know, a top 70 team, whereas last year they weren’t. So, them coming in with a little momentum. Us playing a tough, hard-fought game against Virginia last Friday, falling a little short. You know, again, rivalry game, you get them coming in your own gym, you have a chance to make a statement. What are you going to be about? Are you going to take care of your home court or, you know, are you going to allow another outcome to happen? And again, I thought from the jump, we did a really good job of making sure that people understood that this game was really, really important to us.”

On UF’s chemistry getting better as a team:

Golden: “Chemistry is great, to be honest. I think our chemistry is really, really good. You know, the challenge that we’ve been facing is knowing that we’re gonna get ZP back in game four, right? So, we’re playing our first three games without someone that’s going to be put out there a lot for us. So just, you know, we’re practicing a little differently because we know we’re not have him in games. So, once we got through FAMU, it’s like alight we’re now able to get our full team together. Moving forward, we can work in practice that way. And I thought, you know, our response after the FAMU game and in film and then in practice was really, really good. So, I was pretty confident coming into tonight that we’d played well and obviously we did.”

On Florida’s defensive intensity:

Golden: “Yeah, you know, we were scrambling, we were connected. Thought we did really good job of keeping guys in front. Obviously, we guarded the heck out of the 3-point line, in the first half they were one for nine, didn’t give up many looks. To only give up two made threes in a game is really good. That’s been area, percentage-wise, that’s hurt us this year. We’ve given up get, I think 38-39% from three during the three games. Just two for 13 tonight obviously drives that number down a little bit. You think of how can a team like that come in here and beat you? If they hit 10 three, that’s one way to do it. So, only giving two was huge and really important tonight.”

On the backcourt rotation with Zyon in the fold:

Golden: “I mean, all four those guys are starters, the way I think about it. They’re all going to play a lot. So, whether it’s ZP keeps coming off the bench or he starts, you know, I don’t think it really matters because all those guys, they’re playing 28-30, Will was out there 35 minutes tonight. It’s probably a little too much. He won’t like to hear me say that. ZP’s playing 28. So, I think one more perimeter will get in there, whether that’s Denzel, Julian, Kajus, we’ll see. But, those four are pretty dang good and they play really well together. So, it’s fun to have those guys on my side.”

On the first half being an example of what this team is capable of:

Golden: “Yeah, I mean, we played at an insanely high level. So, I don’t know that — I don’t want to say that’s necessarily our ceiling, but I think that shows that we can hoop if we got things going and guys are playing well and we’re making shots and it’s all connected, right? When you’re playing well offensively, they can’t push it against you so you get to set your defense and now you’re getting stops, running out. They kind of did the opposite to us in the second half to slow us down. But yeah, like I said, you know this, this first half was something that we’ll be able to point to and say we have the capability to play with anybody and I really think we do.”