Todd Golden talks matchup with UGA & Mike White, win over MSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The past and present for UF men’s hoops meet Saturday when the Gators host rival Georgia at 12 p.m. in the O’Dome. It marks the second time former Florida coach Mike White, now in his second season at UGA, returns to Gainesville against Todd Golden‘s team.

It will also be the third advance sellout for the Gators in SEC play this season and the third consecutive weekend sellout.

Florida (13-6, 3-3 SEC) looks to extend its eight-game winning streak against the Bulldogs (14-5, 4-2 SEC), dating back to 2020. It marks UF’s third-longest streak vs. Georgia in series history (11, 2004-09; nine, 1964-68).

Here is everything Golden said about facing the Bulldogs, the Gators’ win over Mississippi State, the status of starting guard Walter Clayton Jr. and more.

Todd Golden Q&A

On another sellout crowd:

Golden: “Fantastic. Our crowd has been great all year, man. Our fans have been fantastic. Obviously with a little momentum, especially after that win on Wednesday. To get the support and get the sellout announced today is huge for us. It’s really great for our guys. I think they really enjoy all the support and playing in front of the crowd. Hopefully we can take advantage of it tomorrow.”

On Clayton’s injury status:

Golden: “He’s good. Everything came back clean. Had a good workout yesterday and a really good practice today. He’ll be good to go. He’s 100%.”

On UF’s progress in close games:

Golden: “Just getting better. We forget a little bit about how up and down our rotation was early in the year, not having Zyon the first three games, not having Micah the next three games after that. It was tricky for us to kind of get some continuity going. Obviously gained some through. December and lost a tough one early Kentucky. But since then been playing pretty well, especially on our home floor. Obviously the Missouri game on the road gave us some confidence that we can win in a hostile environment. But we’ve, been knock on wood, pretty good in our gym all year. So coming back home again, after Wednesday’s game, we feel pretty good. Understand we respect Georgia, they’re a really good team. But we’re feeling confident in ourselves as well right now.”

On Zyon Pullin’s assist to turnover ratio:

Golden: “It’s incredibly important. He’s done a fantastic job, but really our whole perimeter has done a great job taking care of the ball – our whole team. It’s been a big strength of ours over the last couple of weeks. If you can take care of the ball in this league you’re gonna give yourself a chance. A lot of teams that pride themselves in turning you over and that’s how they generate offense. For us, with seven turnovers last game, I think, 10 against Missouri, it’s trend I’d really appreciate seeing continue over the next couple of weeks.”

On UF improving its 3-point defense:

Golden: “I think we’ve been a little more locked into the scout, first and foremost, and making sure that we do a good job of contesting the really good shooters when they’re getting their opportunities, while at the same time limiting opportunities for those guys. And we haven’t made as many tactical errors, in terms of strongside help, strongside digs, kind of losing yourself in space, watching penetration, whatever it is. That was an issue for us early in the year. One guy, Walter Clayton specifically, has done a really good job kind of locking into those assignments over the past couple weeks. Will has grown a lot that way since last year. So if we can get those guys to continue doing that that’s a trend that will continue.”

On Clayton’s defending the 3 better:

Golden: “He’s just not gambling as much defensively. He’s a guy that has great basketball IQ and you kind of want to allow him to go out there and make plays. So, when he sees them, but on the defensive end you just can’t afford to gamble against certain players, and if you do it puts you in some precarious situations. I think he’s done a really good job of understanding the times that we want him to be more aggressive in terms of gambling on the defensive end.”

On the Georgia Bulldogs:

Golden: “(Jabri) Abdur-Rahim is one of the best around – big, gets them off quickly. He’s a tough cover. (Justin) Hill’s another guy that shoots well from the perimeter. (Silas) Demary (Jr.) doesn’t shoot a lot, but he’s shooting a high percentage. So, this is a game where we got to be really mindful of our 3-point defense, for sure.”

On losing a double-digit lead late vs. Miss State:

Golden: “We just weren’t aggressive enough attacking the press. I think it’s a little bit human nature, you get a 17-point lead, eight minutes to go and you don’t want to take too many chances that open up opportunities for the opponent. But Mississippi State to their credit, knew their back was against the wall in that moment, was taking a lot of chances and being really aggressive defensively. Once we broke the press, I didn’t think we were aggressive enough attacking them and the half court. They just got some transition opportunities off of our misses and made some 3s. Against good teams there’s gonna be runs both ways. We had a 13 to 2 run in the first half of that game that opened it up a little bit. They had a 10 zero run on us that tightened it up a bit in the second half. With all that being said, I thought we did a pretty good job of staying poised. In that one possession where they had the ball with down six, two-possession game, we forced a shot-clock violation and we came down, made free throws and it never got tighter than that. I would have obviously preferred to keep that lead above 10 the whole second half. But with that being said I thought we did a good job of handling that little bit more of adversity in the second half.”

On the balance between managing the clock and preserving the lead: 

Golden: “Yeah, definitely, there’s a balance, you need to stay aggressive. I think it’s, even with that lead, you know, we got that lead by being aggressive and it’s really hard to score in the halfcourt in this league, you know, so if you’re letting a team set up – you know, a big stat from that game that I think shows as we played, I think 35 percent of our possessions in the first half in transition, and we played six percent of our possessions in the second half in transition. And we were much more efficient offensively in the first half, so, you know, in pressing, when you break it, you can still kind of quote unquote play in transition, you know, you’re getting the ball across halfcourt and now you’re playing 4-on-3 or 3-on-2, and we should have been more aggressive that way. So if we get ourselves and we’re fortunate enough to get ourselves in a position like that tomorrow, we’re going to try to stay more aggressive in terms of attacking offensively and living with what happens.”

On Denzel Aberdeen playing just two minutes against Miss State: 

Golden: “Denzel knows I believe in him. It was less about him not playing great and more about our other guys really stepping up and doing really well. You know, Will had one of his best games here, ZP was playing really well, and Walt I thought was playing well, pretty well all around. So, he had a little bit of a short leash the other night. It was more about, again, about the other guys just playing well then anything that he did, you know, not so well, and it’s just kind of the role he’s in right now. And he’s got some really good ones ahead of him, but I anticipate he’ll be ready to go tomorrow, and, again, understanding that, you know, I try to make sure he knows every day the confidence that we have in him and obviously we put him in some big moments throughout the year, so I think he understands that.”

On the frontcourt players having a good feel for the offense: 

Golden: “Yeah, it’s recruited, just in terms of feel and understanding of how to play, and you’re right, all four guys who play in the frontcourt are good that way, and they’re really easy to play with. And whether they’re setting ball-screens or moving the ball from the top of the key into a two or three-man game, you know, they’re good decision-makers. I think a big part of why we beat Missouri last Saturday was because they were trapping the ball, we were able to get it out of the traps and Tyrese and Condo in the middle of the floor, and they were making good decisions four on three, and a lot of teams would not be comfortable putting their bigs in that spot, whereas for us I think it’s a little bit of an advantage for us, so, you know, something that we’re going to keep pouring into when teams give us the opportunity to take advantage.”

On how the frontcourt’s ability to score from outside the paint helps Florida’s offense:

Golden: “You know, I think it’s important, it’s not the end all be all. But, you know, I think they were 0-for-4 from three the other night, and, you know, all four of them were good shots. I think Micah, if he gets a wide-open top of the key three early in the game and he’s comfortable, he can let it fly. Tyrese shot his off a pick-and-pop, it was wide-open, there was no contest. Condo was wide-open on a pick-and-pop, a shot that he makes, you know, it seems like every day of practice, wasn’t very close in the game, but, you know, a good shot, and then Tommy hit a back-rim three that was a good look, so, you know, when one or two of those fall, the game kind of opens up a little bit, so especially early in the game when we’re, you know, trying to kind of feel our way into it a little bit and playing with super freedom, you know, those are shots I don’t mind them taking, especially when they’re getting on the glass the way they were.” 

On his relationship with Mike White:

Golden: “You know, Mike’s a good guy. I wouldn’t say we’re super close friends or anything. But, you know, I respect him as a coach and respect him as a person. I’ve gotten to know about him a little bit through Scott [Stricklin] and Jeremy Foley. I have a lot of respect for how he coaches. His teams are really organized, they’re really disciplined, you know, they don’t beat themselves. I feel like when I’m watching other opponents in our league, and when they’re competing against Georgia, I tend to agree or align with a lot of their game plans and what they do. So, you know, this is gonna be a tough game tomorrow. He’s gonna have his team ready to go coming back here. Obviously, there’s an extra added element for him, you know, coming back here, and we got to be ready to go.”

On what Georgia does well defensively:

Golden: “You know, I think one thing they do is they are very good team defense, you know, they do a good job of kind of helping each other in rotations and supporting, whether it’s off-ball screen they’re tagging, they’re connected, you know, they’re not out there, gambling, trying to make hero plays, putting their teammates at risk, you know, they’re really supportive that way and they don’t necessarily have incredible rim protection with a shot blocker, but their team defense is good rim protection because they do a good job keeping you out of the paint. I think they’re mindful of the scout pretty regularly. They don’t have very many errors where they’re leaving shooters when they shouldn’t be or where they’re letting guys driving with their strong hands when they shouldn’t, you know, things of that nature. So, I think they’re just a very disciplined defensively that way.”

On the importance of winning home games:

Golden: “I think it’s every year to be honest, but yeah, this year, every year. It’s incredibly important, man, you got to protect your home floor and it’s not as easy to do as many think. Fortunately for us, we play in a really good environment, that gives a good advantage. But, you know, when you’re playing top 100 teams for the most part every night, there’s gonna be some tough contests. To answer your question better it’s incredibly important and if you protect your home floor, you’re gonna give yourself the chance to advance to the postseason.”

On the challenge of Georgia’s style: 

“Yeah, a little bit. But, I think that’s a big part of, you know, what we think about every game really is making sure we do a good job of not letting the floor get tilted on us. You know, and I think you go back to some of our games in league play, like the Mississippi game was a disaster for us that way. It was bad offense that turned into transition offense for them. Now we’re trying to scramble back and we’re giving them threes or rim twos. So, a huge part of our philosophy and how we want to play period, is not letting teams get out in transition on us, and, you know, Georgia is a team that will run opportunistically. They’re actually playing a lot faster than a lot of Mike’s teams have played in the past. So something we’re mindful of. They have good ball handling and good decision-makers between Demary, Hill, Thomasson, some of these guys that are putting up good numbers for them. Again, just like any team, you know, it’s harder to score the half court then in transition so we can get back and set our defense, it’ll give us a good shot.”