No.24 Florida improved to 20-8 (10-5 SEC) in the 2023-24 season following an 83-74 victory over the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday night. Tyrese Samuel’s career-high 28 points led the Gators, while fellow grad student Zyon Pullin added 21. The duo combined to score 23 of Florida’s final 25 points down the stretch to seal the win.
Florida posted its first 20-win regular season since 2017-18 when the Gators were 20-11 heading into postseason play. It also marks the first season since 2016-17 that UF has notched its 20th win before February closes.
Gator Country provides postgame quotes from Head Coach Todd Golden, center Micah Handlogten, guard Zyon Pullin, and forward Tyrese Samuel following Florida’s victory over Missouri inside the O’Connell Center.
Head Coach Todd Golden
On the adversity faced during this game…
“I felt this was going to be a really challenging game for us. Obviously, Missouri has not had success in league play yet, but it’s kind of crazy to me that they haven’t. They’re talented. They’ve obviously been dealing with a lot of injuries so they might be playing some guys out of position a little bit. But when you are staring at [Sean] East, [Tamar] Bates and [Nick] Honor coming downhill at you all night and they have good size around the rim and they played really good zone against us, it’s a team that can take you out of your stuff and bother you a little bit. I thought, in the first half, we played really well but we did not make shots so we were up nine and a couple threes go in and we could’ve been up 15 instead. That’s what it kind of felt like at halftime. So the message to our guys was, ‘Let’s keep digging back in and be consistent. I need 20 more minutes like that and we will be in really good shape.’ The way that the second have started was not in our favor. We miss a good look, we and-one foul them which cuts it to six and before you know it it’s a one-possession game. Walt [Clayton] gets banged with 14-minutes to go, he’s out and now we’re in a much different situation than we imagined being in coming out at halftime. I was proud of our guys. I feel like we were gritty down the stretch. We didn’t lose confidence although we had trouble attacking the zone for a little bit. And I think we made 11 of our last 13 field goals, attacking the zone really well. Obviously, Tyrese was a grown man tonight. He did an incredible job: 28 points, 10 rebounds. Zyon Pullin was great as well. Our two seniors really stepped up tonight and we found a way.”
On what it was like to see Tyrese Samuel produce like he did…
“It felt great. Just absolutely fantastic. He was good in the first half, he had 12 [points] and 6 [rebounds] at halftime. I felt his motor was running really high and when his motor is running like that, he is one of the best frontcourt players in the league. And again, there’s only so many things you can draw up against a zone. You got to have some feel and some good decision making and be a basketball player. And I feel like that showed, big-time, for him in those moments. With those tight catches, tight moves in tight space, being able to put it in with either hand, and-one finishes. That dunk should be SportsCenter Top 10 tonight. I feel his experience really showed in those moments.”
On needing games like this to toughen you up…
“I like to use them as teaching experiences and obviously it’s a lot easier to do that after a win than a loss. I felt like this game was one of those where every conversation was, ‘Hey you guys have been great in these situations all year. Are you worried about this one being the one where you guys do not bring the effort?’ And not just with you guys but even with my dad or with anybody. Yeah, I was worried. Missouri is good. They are talented, they have a good coach, they know what they are doing, they have a system. We are a very good team, obviously ranked two weeks in a row and have some very good wins. But we aren’t the number one team in America yet. We got a lot of improving to do. We have a lot of teaching to do from this moment, and fortunately we did not get stuck with a loss in the meantime.”
Sophomore C Micah Handlogten
On the leadership of the veteran players…
“It’s huge, just the leadership roles that they provide, especially to a young frontcourt. You have me, Thomas [Haugh] and Condo [Alex Condon] who look up to Tyrese every single game. He pushes us in practice, just makes us better. It’s just huge. And I know that the guards are the same way. Having Zyon [Pullin], having Walt [Clayton], everyone looks up to them. They’re leaders on the team, natural leaders, so it’s just really nice to have them.”
On what was said in the huddle during tight moments…
“I don’t think it was anything that was verbally said, it was just kind of like a mutual understanding amongst all of us.”
Grad G Zyon Pullin
On what sparked the run to close the game…
“Having someone like [Walter Clayton] go out, we were a little confused what happened at first, but it was just staying together and trying to keep making the right plays, taking what they gave us. I think that’s something this team did a pretty good job of today. They went zone and tried to mix it up a little bit. I think we just kept taking what they gave us and were able to put the ball in the basket.”
On staying together in tight moments…
“I think the biggest thing was just staying together, we have been in situations like this, you know even worse situations, so it was just staying together. I thought we got some pretty good looks, and we knew they were going to fall.”
Grad F Tyrese Samuel
On the strong close to the game…
“Us being poised was really the key…Today, we did a really good job staying poised and came out with a W…I think we played great down the stretch. We didn’t panic. Staying poised was the key. We didn’t panic. I had a lot of confidence we were going to win the game. The shots weren’t falling for us at the beginning, but at the end they began to fall.”