The UF bench, including injured guard Riley Kugel (black shirt), erupts after manager-turned-walk-on Bennett Andersen scored late in the Gators' 96-57 win Friday at the O'Dome
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A lot of weird (and bad) stuff would have had to happen for Grambling to be in the game Friday afternoon against the Florida Gators at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Instead, the lopsided final score looked a lot like most surely figured it would, but UF coach Todd Golden was even more delighted with the selfless play of his team, to a man, in blowing out the Tigers 96-57 for a fifth consecutive win.
The box score showed an even distribution of five players in double-figure scoring, led by junior wing Will Richard's 17 points and five 3-pointers, plus forward Tyrese Samuel's second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Gators (9-3) shot 62.3 percent for the game (over 62 in both halves, in fact), including 11-for-21 from the 3-point line (52.4 percent) and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
But what made Golden really pleased (if not ecstatic) were his team's season-high 27 assists – the most by a UF squad in 16 years – and just 10 turnovers.
"Twenty-seven assists? I mean that's a heck of a number," Golden said. "We were efficient, we were pretty tough, so just really happy with the way we competed in our last effort before the [Christmas] break."
The performance came with sophomore guard Riley Kugel, the preseason All-Southeastern Conference selection, scratched from the lineup due to a foot bruise that kept him out of Thursday's practice and Friday's morning shoot-around. His spot in the starting lineup went to grad-transfer guard Zyon Pullin, one of the heroes from Tuesday's double-overtime victory over Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte, N.C. Pullin was very good that night and again Friday afternoon, going 4-for-5 from the floor on the way to 14 points, plus five rebounds and six assists over a turnover-free 25 minutes.
"A stud," Golden said of Pullin, his floor general, whose season's numbers now show 46 assists to just 10 turnovers. "He's playing like one of the best points guard in America."
Freshman forward Thomas Haugh came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points in just 13 minutes, while sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen got most of Kugel's minutes and responded with a solid floor game of 11 points (on 5-for-8 shooting), five assists and just one turnover in a career-high 24 minutes.
"My teammates and coaches always say be ready when your name is called, no matter how many minutes you get or what you're position is," said Aberdeen, who won a state championship alongside Kugel during their prep days at Orlando Dr. Phillips High. "Riley being out gave me a chance to show what I can do. My teammates put me in the right positions to score."
And vice versa.
That was kind of the theme of the day, with three Gators posting at least five assists and five with as many as three.
Backup sophomore guardDenzel Aberdeen soars for a second-half slam on his way to 11 points and five assists over a career-high 24 minutes.
Florida never trailed, playing with the lead for 38 minutes, 37 seconds. The Gators got a little lackadaisical midway through the first half after jumping ahead 21-8, allowing the Tigers (2-10) to go on a run of five straight made field goals for nine consecutive points to make the score 21-17 inside 10 minutes remaining.
Out of timeout, Richard hit a 3 to start a run of 12 straight points that ended with another 3, this one from Walter Clayton Jr., as the Gators took the lead out and led 44-27 at the break.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Richard had banged three more 3s and the Gators were up by 23 points and on their way to going up 30 at the halfway mark of the period, which allowed Golden to get some minutes for some seldom-used players who may be called on down the line. They all played well.
"Happy for those guys," Samuel said.
With a minute to go, Golden deployed his four walk-ons into the game, with Bennett Andersen, who was a team manager the previous three seasons, getting a bounce pass from freshman point guard Kajus Kublickas and putting in a reverse layup that ignited a celebration on the UF bench.
"Shoutout to Kajus," Andersen said afterward. "Good pass."
Kublickas, the Lithuanian who signed late in the summer, was playing in just his fifth game. He played nine minutes without attempting a shot, but had three assists and no turnovers. The dish to Andersen was UF's 27th assist of the game. And, yes, it was a beauty.
