The Florida Gators improved to 11-5 (2-1 SEC) after a dominant 91-67 victory over No.21 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon. The win marks the second straight over a ranked opponent and the 15th consecutive victory at home.
Guard Boogie Fland led the way with 23 points, five assists, and four steals while Center Rueben Chinyelu added 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Six Gators logged double digit scoring totals in the contest.
Here’s everything head coach Todd Golden had to say postgame.
Opening statement:
“Just really, really happy. Obviously, I’m really proud of our group. We played our best game of the year. After being Georgia on Tuesday, we talked a lot about this game being another step for this group, specifically in that we admire Tennessee for what they’ve done in the program. Since Coach Barnes has been there, I think of them as probably the toughest program in the league. And we’re constantly competing to have that title. We talked to our club a lot about it over the last couple days, that this was a great challenge to see who could be the mentally and physically tougher team. Tennessee is fantastic. But we played really well today. And I thought our guys, one through eight that got minutes, did a great job of being mentally and physically tough. It started on the defensive end. I thought we did a good job limiting them around the rim. We did a great job taking care of the ball – only 10 turnovers. And we rebounded – plus-11 on the glass. Those are things that we talk about all the time. As I’ve said to you guys, when we start making some shots, we’re gonna be able to run away from some people. We were able to do that today.”
On scoring thirty points off their turnovers:
“We just valued the basketball, with the exception of a couple, silly .. we had one backcourt outlet turnover, maybe two of those. But other than that, I thought, especially in our half court, we did a really good job of fighting for really good shots. We talked about Tennessee’s ability to defend. That they’re not going to give you much early in the half court, and you’re gonna have to work a little bit side to side to break them down. We did a good job that way. So that was a big reason as well. We took care of the ball. This group, our defense has to lead to offense for us at times. And I thought we did a great job of that, especially like our baseline out of bounds defense was fantastic. It led to some run-out layups. And we just did a great job after the first four minutes of the game where we were kind of trying to feel it out of executing our game plan, of keeping them out of the middle.”
On doing a great job, for the second straight game, running people off the 3-point line:
“Yeah, it’s a staple in the way we guard and what’s important to us. Especially once we got out to a little bit of a lead, we made sure our guys understood how important it was to make them operate inside the 3. We didn’t want to give them opportunities to get back in the ball game. Ament hit a couple, I thought Gillespie a couple tough ones off the bounce in the first half. But other than that, we did a really good job guarding the 3-point line.”
On Boogie’s haircut:
“I think he looks great. I think he looked great before, but I think he looks clean. Sometimes, these things can be mental. Just gave him an opportunity to kind of start fresh, and he played fantastic. From start to finish. I thought he defended very well. Obviously, in kind of the middle 20 of the game, he took over offensively and scored a majority of his points. That gave the rest of the guys a lot of confidence. Seeing him play freely, knock down two 3s in the first half, starting to get downhill in transition. It just kind of took a lot of the pressure and a little bit of the stress off everybody else. Once he started playing like that, we really took off.”
On Rueben Chinyelu getting to his spots, imposing his will physically:
“Incredibly critical. I think he’s growing into one of the best frontcourt players in the land. And, you know, we talked a lot about this game specifically winning the battle of paint. They play two bigs, we play two bigs, both teams like to screen-assist in the lane. Both teams use their big as screeners a lot, and then both teams are relentlessly trying to create second-chance opportunities. So, you know, we challenged those guys to win that battle, and you know, Rue had 16 rebounds. Okpara had one. He dominated. You know, that stretch in the second half where we were able to get him some deep post catches over there on the right block, and just his patience and his ability to get to his left shoulder and find a way to finish, you know, that was kind of the backbreaker that allowed us to get an insurmountable lead.”
On how much this week displayed the fruits of playing a challenging non-conference schedule, how this week can be a take-off point for this team:
“Yeah I mean, the value of playing a non-conference schedule for this week is, you know, when you play a team like Georgia, who’s very good, you know, playing like a top-30 team, you’re not surprised, you know. You’re like, alright, well, we played Arizona, we played Duke, like, we’ve seen really good teams. So this isn’t necessarily anything new, so I think that’s where that experience comes in. And same for today, because you can talk about the physicality that Tennessee brings, you can talk about their size, but you can’t really experience it until you get on the floor unless you play other teams like that. And I think Arizona is a team that’s very physical and very big in the frontcourt. Obviously Duke has some physical frontcourt players, and UConn as well. So, you know, taking our lumps early in the year, falling short against those teams was tough mentally, you know, and allowed us to fight with a little adversity and continue to stick together, and it definitely was a positive for us today.”
On the importance of the 10-0 run to end the half:
“It was huge. You know, we were, I think, tied 26 or something before that, we got a three, I think, came back and got a bucket, and we ran out on the 10-0 run, and, you know, going into halftime up 13 is a lot more comfortable than going in up three, you know. It gave us a little bit, you know, good juice and confidence and belief that we could go out there and continue defending in the second half that we would be in good shape.”
On who suggested the haircut to Boogie:
“That was a personal decision to cut it.”
On who suggested the hair change for Viktor:
“That was a personal decision as well.”
On Boogie Fland’s defensive performance, four steals:
“I thought it was incredibly disruptive, you know, after the first media of the game, and, you know, you could tell, like, in real time, the weight of the world being lifted off his shoulders after that first shot went in. And then, you know, getting that steal on their baseline out of bounds and he turned into a tough finish, like you could just see. And all of us felt like, man, we’re all just so happy for him, you know, that individually he could just start having more success, and, you know, be able to play with that freedom that allows him to do that. And, you know, when he’s at his best he’s disruptive defensively, he’s a pest on the ball, he’s creating, you know, transition opportunities through his defense, and you know, I thought he played a great game today start to finish.”
On Urban Klavzar’s growth as a defender, handling physical play:
“Yeah well one thing I’ll tell you about Urb is he’s incredibly tough, you know, mentally and physically, and you know, he wants the challenge. And the great thing about him is he’ll get beat but he’s never going to run away from it, you know, he’s going to continue to step back up and take that challenge. I thought he did a wonderful job on Gillespie, you know, Gillespie’s a mental toughness cover, in the sense that he can’t relax. You can’t for a second be like, ‘Oh, I’m good,’ because when you do that, he’s gonna rip off a screen or find the shot. And Urby’s toughness defensively, being able to stay in his body, stay engaged, not get beat off the screen, you know, it was huge for us. And I thought this was his best defensive game of the year. It showed, him being plus-23 in 28 minutes.”
On what’s it mean to have Mike Miller and Vernon Maxwell and those kinds of guys back in the building:
“I think it says a lot about the players in our program and the success we’ve been able to have. The reality is that those guys aren’t coming back unless they’re excited to watch the team to play and be excited to be a part of the venue. I mean that’s the reality. They have lives and things that they’re capable of doing. But it means a lot to us. To have Vernon back was awesome. He was in our locker room with us after the game. For our players to see the level of respect that he had on his face with their effort is equal to or greater than anything we can say. This guy has done it. He has played in NBA championships. He’s won championships and been a part of great teams. He’s in there talking to the guys about how much he admires how hard they play and how tough they fight. Mike Miller being here the same idea. We want our greats to be back and be back around. We want to be able to play and produce a product that they are excited about. It was just a great day for our program today for sure.”
On after great wins at home, how do you take it onto the road:
“It’s the same formula for us. It starts with defending and rebounding and take care of the ball. We didn’t defend and rebound well enough at Missouri (or) score well enough. We didn’t play great offensively, but w were 1.1 per possessions. We just didn’t guard. We didn’t possessions well enough. We came back and really focused on that. We’ll do that again for Oklahoma. They’re very good offensive team. We’ve got to guard really well. We’ve got to rebound and allow our defenses to help our offense. Hopefully we’ll continue to get some makes from the perimeter like we did today. If we do that then we are going to tough the rest of the way.”