With the Florida basketball team looking to repeat as national champions, the team is currently on a 2-1 start to the season, with recently coming off a thrilling win over rival Florida State on Tuesday night, 78-76. As fans speculate the chances of the Florida basketball team winning the championship, the focus now is on the present and the basketball games ahead of the program as head coach Todd Golden speaks about Tuesday's win.
While the No. 10-ranked team just escaped the unranked Seminoles, Golden would point out the biggest X-factor of the victory, which was their play on the glass. The Gators would out-rebound Florida State by 22, especially having a 17-8 advantage on the offensive glass, with Golden emphasizing how they need to be a team that “punishes our opponents” in that aspect.
“And the rebounding was fantastic,” Golden said, according to 247 Sports. “We have to be a team that punishes our opponents on the glass the way we play. Plus-22 on the glass tonight gave us a buffer to survive a bad perimeter shooting night to find a way to win. So big win for us. I think hopefully this will give some of our guys a little confidence that are playing some new roles in our program. We'll take tomorrow off and try to get ready for Miami the rest of the week.”
Florida basketball's Todd Golden on what he was pleased with
While Golden signed a new contract with the Florida basketball team recently, he's tasked wth building back the program into a juggernaut in the sport. With more performances like Tuesday, that could happen as they held the Seminoles to 33 percent from the field and 27 percent from three-point range, led by having four players in double-digits.
“Great win for us in a rivalry game,” Golden said. “I think the expectation was outside of our building, outside of the arena, that would be a game for us to control. But we knew coming into this game how difficult it was going to be…And to their credit, I thought they did a great job for a majority of the night. With that being said, I'm really proud of our guys as well, still fighting to find a way to get some of these perimeter shots to fall. But big picture-wise, a lot of good things for how we want to play.”
The Gators next take on another in-state rival in the University of Miami, on Sunday.
