Todd Golden's Gators trounce Tigers, former boss Bruce Pearl

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A Padawan defeated his Master in convincing fashion Saturday in the O’Dome. Florida coach Todd Golden secured his first win over Bruce Pearl, his former boss at Auburn and his coach during the 2009 Maccabiah Games.

The Gators jumped out to a 13-2 start and led by double digits for the final 32 minutes of the game, leading by as many as 29 points in the second half en route to an 81-65 victory. It’s their second win over a top-15 team in the last three games.

“I thought we played great. Just start to finish, our best effort of the year,” Golden said. “If you were to ask me, you know, is Auburn in the mix of teams that could win a national championship, I’d say ‘hell yeah.’ They’re playing as well as anybody … and then we come out and we play our best game of the year against them.”

Riley Kugel scored 13 second-half points off the bench– including seven straight on back-to-back 3s and a four-point play — and finished with a team-high 22, marking his fifth 20-point game of the season and his second in SEC play.

His roommate, Walter Clayton Jr., had a feeling that Kugel would play well Saturday after Florida’s midweek bye.

“Man, Kug’s energy was great this week. Let me say that,” Clayton said. “We had a couple spans where some people up and some people down, but Kug was definitely the peace and positivity person this week. So, I think that’s a big reason why he had a great game. “

Kugel was one of three Gators in double figures, along with fellow guards Clayton (20) and Zyon Pullin (19). Pullin was also second on the team in rebounds (6) and dished three assists as UF matched its season-low with just seven turnovers.

“The mentality of the team was to step on their neck and put them in the ground. We needed that as a team,” Clayton said. “Now we know we can do it and we gotta keep on doing it.”

Florida had one of its best defensive performances of the season, forcing the Tigers into 15 turnovers, blocking seven shots, making 10 steals and holding them to 18 percent from downtown on 3-for-17 shooting. UF shot 40 percent overall (33% from 3) and had a 43-41 rebounding edge.

The Gators went cold down the stretch, making just two of their last 19 attempts and scoring no field goals in the last 9:40 (0-for-14). But their shooting slump didn’t matter after building a 64-35 lead with a 22-7 stretch to open the second half. They also started the game with runs of 13-2 and 13-3.

“No,” Golden said when asked if he was bothered by the late scoring drought. “We were just winning by a lot. So as long as we didn’t stop winning by a lot, I was gonna be OK. … I didn’t think we went too much stall mode. It was more of just missing some shots. We were still getting to the line. That ain’t gonna make me upset today my boy.”

Micah Handlogten blocked four shots and recorded three steals — both season highs — in addition to grabbing a team-leading nine rebounds. UF held star Auburn forward Johni Broome to 14 points, which led all Tigers, and he shot a season-low 12.5% from the charity stripe (1-for-8).

It’s another marquee victory for Golden, who upset No. 10 Kentucky on Jan. 31 for Florida’s first road win over a top-10 team since 2003. Now he’s beaten Pearl, who he worked for at Auburn from 2014-16 and played under during his time in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

“I love Todd. I love him to death. I’m so proud of him,” Pearl said of Golden. “He’s one of the best young coaches in all of college basketball, and he’s here at Florida. I knew that.”

In their first meeting last season, Pearl’s Tigers defeated Golden and the Gators, 61-58, in the SEC opener at Auburn. Saturday’s upset is the second Quad 1 win this season for Florida, which is now projected to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Gators (16-7, 6-4 SEC) are back in the O’Dome on Tuesday against LSU (12-11, 4-6). Tip will be at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.