The Florida Gators dominated Arkansas 111–77 on Saturday night, improving to 23–6 (14–2 SEC) to secure a share of the SEC regular-season championship.
Here’s everything head coach Todd Golden had to say postgame:
Opening statement:
“Yeah, just a great night for our program. I think today, with GameDay here, just a lot of distractions, all great distractions, but distractions, and I thought our guys handled the moment and the opportunity like professionals. They were great and locked-in all day. As a staff, we felt really good about our opportunity tonight with the way our guys approached practice and the way they handled walk-through today, and just the mentality that they had displayed. And I thought Arkansas kind of got us on our heels early with their speed, and once we kind of got comfortable and got our legs underneath us, we never looked back. I thought we played a great game really in all phases. Held them to 40 from the field, 30 from 3, only gave up 4 made threes. Probably fouled them too much in the 2nd half, but fantastic on the glass, little loose with the ball in the 2nd half, but the game was pretty much decided by that point. And just I was really proud that we can call ourselves SEC champions.”
On the defense running Arkansas off the three-point line:
“Yeah that was a big part of our scout. I think Jonathan Safir, who had the scout tonight, did a great job by identifying the ways that they could beat us and ways that if we could guard them, that it would be hard for them, and that was a big part of it. Not letting Acuff, has obviously been phenomenal, he’s a great player, but we did a really good job on limiting his opportunities from three. And then X, along with Urb and Boog, did a great job on (Maleek) Thomas. You know, he’s been a great scorer, he’s been coming on lately, and providing some three-point shooting for them, and limiting those guys to one make between them was a big reason why we won the way we did.”
On heading into March after this performance:
“Yeah, I mean we’re playing really good basketball right now. I think we’re getting contributions from a number of guys. I think that’s probably allowed us to become an even better team. You see what Isaiah and Urb did in the first half, I think they combined for 18 points and Isaiah I think was plus-21 in the first half or something like that, which is absolutely insane for a reserve player to have that type of plus/minus in such a big game. But it’s been the story of our conference season, it’s been the story of our run. We’re getting a lot of great contributions from guys, and when we’re able to get rest for starters, those guys can come in and keep the score going the right direction, it’s huge for us, and against a lot of these teams that we play, they’re really talented but they don’t have the depth that we do where we’re able to wear teams down.”
On being 8-0 in February:
“Love it. Didn’t lose in February, got to try not to lose in March either.”
On hanging a banner for an SEC title:
“As I continue in my career, you just realize that every year is different and every team is different. And we were incredibly fortunate to return some really impactful players off a national championship team, but it took us a little bit to get comfortable and to find our way. And the credit that this team deserves more than anything is staying together, believing in each other when guys weren’t playing at their best, not pointing fingers. Our staff did a great job of keeping our guys aligned and on the same page. Even when we were 5-4, we thought we had a chance to have a special season if we just improved incrementally over the rest of the year and we’ve done that. I think we’re playing as good as anybody in America right now.”
On the energy during the game, double techs:
“The energy in the building was amazing. Our crowd all year has given us a big lift, but tonight with GameDay and everything that was on the line, you could tell there was a lot of energy and a lot of excitement in the building. And our guys fed off it really positively. They did a good job of channeling it the right way. Sometimes in these games, guys can try to make hero plays and lose their focus. And our guys didn’t do that. They channeled it the right way. They guarded incredibly hard. They were physical. They did a great job executing the scout. And I think in regards to the tech, both of us were just coaching our team. He’s obviously a Hall of Fame head coach. He’s an incredible coach. And we’re just out there competing. I don’t think either of us thought twice about it after it happened and it was a little bit part of the game tonight.”
On how long Florida celebrates this win:
“Tonight and then tomorrow we’ll be off. Monday when we get back, our next goal is now to be the lone outright champs. As of right now, Bama won tonight against Tennessee. So if we don’t take care of our business, they could still potentially tie us. We don’t want that to happen. We want to win on Tuesday night on our home floor to get the lone championship. And as I just told the team, we’re playing for a lot still. We got a lot to still accomplish. This can’t be the best thing that happened to us this year. Not only are we playing to be lone champs on Tuesday, but I told the guys, we’re playing to become the best seed possible. Because of the way we played in the month of February, we’ve opened up a lot of opportunities for ourselves down the stretch. And if we take care of business and play really well, there’s not a seed out there that is unattainable for us. Obviously there’s other teams competing for it, but we have a lot that’s under our control down the stretch here.”
On Arkansas being the best 3-point shooting team in the SEC coming into tonight and going 4-for-13:
“We did a great job executing the scout. With Acuff, really, we were going to live with twos. The main thing with him was to keep him left and try to run him off the line and don’t foul him. If he makes tough twos all night, you tip your cap. Meleek Thomas, similarly. Meleek is an elite 3-point shooter. His 3-point percentage is actually 1% higher than his two-point percentage. So the goal with the guys was to get him off the line and make him take tough twos. He took 11 of those and only two 3s. So again, the name of the game for us, our team is incredibly coachable. They do a great job executing and they did that again tonight defensively.”
On Rueben Chinyelu having nine games now this season with 16 rebounds or more:
“That’s a ridiculous stat. The fact that you’re in 23 minutes is also really ridiculous, but best rebounder in the country. There’s no argument about that. I think he’s the best defensive player in the country as well. What I was really happy, he had an incredible segment – I don’t know if anybody saw it on GameDay today – they did a great feature on him. It’s the recognition that he deserves. This guy was an unsung hero for us last year. This year, people appreciate and understand the value that he brings to our team. He’s just a guy that continues to wear opponents down, frustrating opponents. He gets frustrated too, sometimes – we got to keep him centered. But the guy plays so hard man, and every one of his teammates values what he brings to the table. He’s just become an incredible, winning player for us.”