Todd Golden reacts to ‘missed opportunity’ by Gators vs. Kentucky

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida let one slip away Saturday in its SEC opener. The Gators led for 28:35 against No. 6 Kentucky but blew a late lead to lose 87-85, snapping a six-game losing streak.

UF shot 40 percent from 3 in the first half and held the Wildcats to 1-for-10 behind the arc. Those numbers flipped in the second period as UK was 4-for-10 from 3 and the Gators went 1-for-11.

Florida committed eight turnovers in the second half and only forced two turnovers after Kentucky committed seven in the first period. UF also shot 62 percent from the line and missed 11 free throws.

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

Todd Golden Q&A

On how he felt about letting the win slip away: 

Golden: “Yeah, I think it was a missed opportunity, for sure. I don’t think we played great, I thought we played well. I thought we played pretty dang well in the first half. Really just executed what we wanted to do, which was get up and down a little bit. We did a great job taking care of the ball, and went into halftime with an eight-point lead, and just didn’t come out the right way in the second half, or we didn’t execute well enough, and we gave them a little confidence, and I think that was really a little bit of an inflection point in the game, where we have an eight-point lead and we come in at media, I think we’re only up three, and, again, against a really good team like this, you can’t give them life, you can’t give them hope, and played really well for 20 but you got to go for 40 against these guys. I thought the middle 12 minutes of the second half I thought we played well. Had some opportunities to kind of get over the hump, missed a lay-up in transition. We were 1-for-11 from the line, from three, in the second half – I thought we got some really good looks, you know – I’m gonna have to go back and watch, and you know, we didn’t get great games from ‘Rese and Will and, you know, other guys stepped up, but, again, against a team like this, you’ve got to play pretty dang well, and we just fell a little short. I thought our ball-handling in the second half wasn’t good enough, and I was hoping for a better margin on the glass. So to only have, you know, be plus-3 on the glass was a little disappointing, but this game came down to a possession here, possession there, you know, we missed a wide-open three late and Bradshaw hit a big-time shot, and it was a dagger shot. So, disappointing, but with that being said, you know, we’ll drill the film and I’m sure there will be some takeaways, but we’ve got a tough one on Wednesday so we can’t sulk or hang our head, for sure.”

On the halfcourt offense late in the game: 

Golden: “Again, I thought we were getting good shots. I don’t remember exactly what happened on each possession in that timeframe, but I think over the course of the 40 minutes we did a good job getting looks, and, again, we had some wide-open catch-and-shoot threes that we got to make to be able to win a game like this, so maybe it tightened up a little bit, but I felt like we did a good job of trying to stay aggressive offensively, and just didn’t knock them down.”

On what areas he believes they can execute better down the stretch: 

Golden: “Got to do a better job getting stops. They scored a lot in the second half, now a lot of that was due to the fact that we were fouling late and giving them some free points that way, but, you know, for me, down the stretch it’s got to be like the rest of the 40 minutes, in the sense of you’ve got to take care of the ball, you’ve got to get shots, you’ve got to get on the glass, and your first-shot defense has got to be great, so we’ll go back and look at it all and see the different areas that we can improve, for sure.”

On the combination of Walter Clayton and Zyon Pullin (23 apiece): 

Golden: “Yeah, they’ve been really good for us all year, and when you have ball-handlers and playmakers like that, it gives you a lot of confidence, and obviously ZP started cramping down the stretch, but he kept fighting. Walter’s a great competitor, you know, both of those guys, you know, being out there gives you confidence, and, again, neither are perfect. There are definitely areas that they can continue to improve and get better, but, you know, you look at the backcourt, I think our backcourt outplayed their young backcourt, bottom line. You know, Reeves had a heck of a game, I thought he got us a little bit, and, yeah, just, again, fell a little short.”

On Riley Kugel’s first half performance, his increased maturity: 

Golden: “Yeah, it’s important to find a way to help your team, and I thought when he got in there, he had a great mentality that way, he was really aggressive defensively. I thought he was really active in transition offensively, trying to make really smart plays, and took the right shots, you know, took good threes in the first half and banged a couple of them, and just played with really good mentality. Obviously, some turnovers late hurt us, but when he plays with that energy and enthusiasm, especially on the defensive end, I think it opens up everything for him, and he gave us a big lift in the first half, for sure.”

On if he was frustrated with the 11 missed free throws in a game decided by one possession: 

Golden: “Honestly, we’ve been around this team for a long time, you know, that’s obviously a shortcoming for us, so we lost the battle at the line by one. The thing that’s bothering me more right now is I thought we missed some really good looks, and in the moment, a game like this, great atmosphere, the crowd was amazing, you feel like you’ve got to step up and knock some of those down. And obviously free throws are a part of that, but I’m struggling more with the 1-for-11 from 3 in the second half, because I thought we took really good shots.” 

On the Gators’ defensive breakdowns against UK:

Golden: “Our ball screen coverage wasn’t good enough in the second-half. But at the same time I thought they made some really good one-on-one plays. You know, a big part of our game plan was to not allow assisted 3-point baskets for them and they only had six assists on the night, you know? So when you look at that, you’re like, ‘Alright, you did a good job.’ But then it comes down to being able to guard your yard and play one-on-one defense, especially in the middle of the floor. And to their credit, I thought they did a really good job finishing tough layups around the rim. I would imagine they had the best two-point field goal percentage against us that anybody’s had all year. And you know, there’s only so many things you do schematically at the end of the day with one-on-one defense. It comes down to are you physical enough? Are you able to keep him first far enough away from the rim? Are you able to contest the shot hard enough? So, I thought her switching was good. I thought it was really good for us when switching that Mitchell ball screen in the middle of the floor because he’s such a good catch-and-shoot shooter. And he was 0-for-2 from 3. They shot 45 (percent) from the field, too high of a percentage from 2. I thought we did a good job limiting their 3s and how good of shots they were able to get and they missed some free throws too. So, again, just one shot here, one turnover there is the difference. And that’s a tough thing in a game like this when one play can change the direction of the game.”

On if Aaron Bradshaw’s ability from 3 was on the scouting report:

Golden: “Yeah, he was 2-for-3 from 3 going into the year, so I put him in that Micah category of guys that could make a shot. But again, you’re sitting in that game, if you would have said, ‘Hey, they’re gonna need a three from their freshman big who’s taking three attempts on the year to dagger you guys’, probably live with that as opposed to a Tre Mitchell post up or a Reed Sheppard catch-and-shoot 3. You know, against a top-10 team in the country, you gotta pick your poison a little bit and what you’re willing to deal with. And credit to Bradshaw, that was a huge, huge shot. But, you know, he beat us with that shot. I don’t think we beat ourselves by allowing that shot.”

On Will Richard’s off day shooting: 

Golden: “He was off tonight, bottom line. I thought he played the right way. I thought he competed on the defensive end. But was obviously 0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-7 from 3. If he makes a couple more of those, this game could be completely different. Stinks. I didn’t think Tyrese had his best game either, but both those guys have been really good for us all year. So, I anticipate both of them will play really well on Wednesday.”

On keeping the UK loss from snowballing:

Golden: “Hey brother, every game in the SEC is a Super Bowl, so you gotta be mentally tough. You gotta be able to not hang your head after a game like this. You gotta be able to kind of settle back up and understand that Ole Miss is a very good team. So going on the road, playing in Oxford is going to be a challenge. But again, that’s why you want to be at this level. That’s why you want to play in this league. I look at a team like Mississippi State last year. I think they started 1-6 in the league and ended up going to the NCAA tournament. So it’s one of those things that, you know, every win in this league is so valuable. And I think our guys have the mental toughness to understand that we can’t sulk and feel bad for ourselves about this game because we’ve got a lot of season left.”

On getting 23 minutes out of Alex Condon:

Golden: “He’s playing very well. I thought Tommy gave us good minutes also. But with Condo, Micah, Tyrese and Tommy, they’re relatively interchangeable to an extent. Tyrese obviously is best with his back to the basket or scoring. But those other guys are really good athletes. They’re good defenders, they’re active, they get on the glass. And when we keep them fresh, it’s been really good for us all year. I thought Micah was a little slow starter tonight, but I thought he did a good job in the second half with the exception of the turnovers. But he was really good on the glass and gave us a good second chance opportunities. And I thought Tommy did a good job defensively as well. But Condo is coming on, playing well, and I think he’ll continue to do so the rest of the year.”

On going toe to toe with No. 6 Kentucky:

Golden: “It’s all part of the growth of where we’re trying to get. Honestly, this was a game that I expected to win, to be honest. You know, I thought going into this that we would have a great opportunity to win the game. I thought our preparation was really good all week and I have a great level of respect for coach Cal and the success he’s had in his league, obviously over his career. And they’re playing a lot of young guys this year. I thought this would be a great opportunity to kind of catch them early before the middle of SEC play. And shoot, we led for 30 minutes. So we were right there and that’s going to sting as well. No moral victories, but it’s fair to say this program is on the right track.”