Will Richard, Zyon Pullin react to Florida's win over Quinnipiac

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida junior guard Will Richard and graduate transfer Zyon Pullin led the charge in the Gators’ 97-72 win over Quinnipiac on Saturday.

Richard scored 15 of his season-high 22 points and Pullin had all 16 of his points in the first half, as the duo outscored Quinnipiac over the first 20 minutes.

Here’s everything Richard and Pullin said after the Gators’ victory.

Will Richard

On closing out non-con play with a blowout win and the importance of momentum:

“I would say it was big just because coming back from break, sometimes you could take a day off and feel like you come back lazy and stuff and not be in that rhythm. It was definitely a huge game for us to win and just to finish off the month undefeated.”

On catching his stride:

“For me, it was just trusting my work. I’ve put in a lot of hours in the gym just shooting and stuff and I’m just trusting in the work I put in and letting the game come to me.”

On Florida’s readiness for SEC play:

“I think we’re ready for sure. We had a tough non-conference. We played some really good teams. We know what to expect. Everybody’s ready. Everybody’s ready to battle.”

On what he learned in his first year in the SEC:

“For me, it was just definitely a lot more physical than it was at my previous school. Just the physicality of it and you have to come and bring your best every night.”

On where Florida has shown the most growth in December:

“We’re playing more together. I feel like our joy has definitely come back and we’re having fun out there playing as a team. I feel like we’ve been a lot more locked in. Our practices have been similar to the game so I feel like every game we’re prepared because we’re going so hard in practice.”

On going undefeated in December:

“Really, it’s just taking it game by game. Nobody wants to lose, and we all came together and we wanted to win. So, just taking it game by game, knowing it was in our reach to do it. So, let’s go do it.”

On having more intense practices lately:

“Yeah, for sure. We feel like playing in practice definitely gets us more prepared for the games. So, I feel like we’ve been in a lot more game scenarios in practice, which is why in the game it feels a lot more normal and natural when we’re out there.”

On defensive adjustment in the first half:

“We put a real emphasis on not letting them get second-chance points buckets. I feel like they were getting the majority of the 50-50 balls and scoring, so it was just locking in on defensive rebounding and just getting stops and trying to translate to buckets on offense.”

On momentum heading into SEC play:

“It’s definitely a different feeling than last year. With this group of guys, we feel like every game we’re in we should win it. So, just going out there with guys who are bought into what Coach is wanting to do and just knowing that we want to win as much as possible.”

On how winning impacts confidence:

“It definitely does a lot, especially when you’re winning. So, it helps out for sure.”

Zyon Pullin

On building out a 20-plus point lead in the first half:

“I think it was just taking what the defense gave us. Had some open looks and took them and knocked them down. It was good to see them go in, especially going into conference play. Just kept the momentum going.”

On where Florida has shown the most growth in December:

“I think just keep trying to defend, eliminating some turnovers, really trying to clean that up, that area. Then just keep defending and getting more flow on offense and I think those are some things that we are trying to do.”

On having a week off before SEC play:

Pullin: “Yeah, it’s definitely good to take some time off, you know, step away from basketball a little bit and then kind of get back to it. Just let our bodies recover and I think this week (off) definitely helped us.”

On having more intense practices lately:

“Just competing, I think that’s the biggest thing. Getting ready for conference and all that stuff, just competing every day in practice and really pushing each other and just trying to get better.”