Coach Todd Golden didn't overreact to Wednesday's lopsided loss at Ole Miss, but knows the Gators have things to clean up heading into Saturday's home game against an equally desperate Arkansas.
Gators Look to Reset vs Razorbacks
Friday, January 12, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The first question could have focused on any number of things. Defense. Confidence. Rebounding. Ball-security. Take your pick.
The one lobbed initially at Florida coach Todd Golden Friday, though, zeroed in on sophomore guard Riley Kugel, the preseason All-Southeastern Conference selection who played less than four first-half minutes (none in the second half) of the Gators' deflating 103-85 loss Wednesday night at Mississippi.
"I'm going to keep it simple," Golden said. "Riley and I were just not on the same page the day of the game against Ole Miss. We met [Thursday]. We had a great conversation and I think we're back on the same page. I expect him to play really well [Saturday], and that's really the depth that I'm going to go into it."
And that was really all the detail Golden needed to offer on the in-house situation. Coach, player and team have moved on, and after opening the league season with back-to-back defeats nothing should be of greater importance for the Gators (10-5, 0-2) than the next game, which is Saturday afternoon against Arkansas (9-6, 0-2) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The Razorbacks have serious problems of their own and will every bit as desperate as the Gators to avoid falling deeper into a conference hole.
Yeah, there's a lot going on and a lot of things for the Gators to address, but everyone in the UF locker room should be in agreement about one thing: Florida needs a win.
"Come in, just identify your problems, identify what stuff went wrong and just try and fix it in practice," junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. said. "Get better at it."
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Three nights ago, Ole Miss was in a somewhat similar situation. The Rebels started the season with 13 consecutive wins, but got annihilated 90-64 at sixth-ranked Tennessee in their SEC opener. They responded in a big way at the Gators' expense, shooting 59 percent for the game, including 75 in the second half, and scoring the program's most points in 22 years.
The Rebels showed pride, purpose and resilience in bouncing back. The Gators took note.
Golden made it clear that he in no way thinks the sky is falling, despite back-to-back second-half defensive performances that allowed sixth-ranked Kentucky to score 50 points and the Rebels to erupt for 59.
"Honestly, I thought we played pretty well defensively against Kentucky, until the last couple minutes. I was not at all disappointed with that effort. We played well enough to win the game," Golden said." Obviously, the Ole Miss game was a different story. I think we ran into a buzzsaw a little bit."
The Rebels had it going on both ends and things got out of hand early in the second half, as they made shot after shot and turned an incredible 16 blocks and too many live-ball turnovers turning into transition baskets (24 points off UF giveaways).
Making some more shots would help the Gators' cause. UF is at just 42 percent overall and 29.2 from the 3-point line in the two SEC games. The Gators also have been collectively out-rebounded 56-50, which has been disappointing given the way they crashed the glass in pre-league play.
Sophomore guard Riley Kugel (2) had 15 points last weekend against Kentucky, including a pair of 3s, for his best scoring game since Nov. 29.
UF set out to fix some of its defensive woes by reexamining the ones on offense, but Golden said he was not going to overreact to one really poor performance against a very good team on the road.
"The Ole Miss loss is easier to flush than the Kentucky loss [which] had a little more emotion to it because you're right there and you lead for 30 minutes and you're disappointed and dejected about it and it's a little harder to get over emotionally," Golden said. "[The Ole Miss game], you got your butt kicked and you have to address it, which we did with the team [Thursday] and talk about the things that have to happen to get better. You have to get through that and get over that as quick as possible."
Enter Arkansas, which has its own problems. The Hogs suffered a monumental home beatdown in theirSEC opener, losing 83-51 to 25th-ranked Auburn in what was the most lopsided defeat in the 28-year history of Bud Walton Arena. Then came Wednesday's 76-66 loss at Georgia. They come into the O'Dome wounded and hungry, presumably.
"[Neither] of us want to go into next week 0-3," Golden said. "We're back in our home gym. Very important game for us and we'll be ready to go. I think we'll play well, for sure."
And, as he mentioned from the outset of the media op, that includes Kugel, who has struggled to adjust to his role as a complimentary player on a talented offensive team after being Options 1, 2 and 3 following the season-ending injury to Colin Castleton and getting SEC All-Freshman honors. Golden said Kugel, who's averaging 10.9 points on 37-percent shooting and 25.8 from distance, is still searching for his "sweet spot" on a more talented offensive team while trying to meet expectations of a player who entered the 2023-24 season on NBA draft boards.
It all surely came up in that "productive" meeting Thursday. So did, most likely, the realization that to be the best version of themselves, the Gators need the best version of Kugel in his remade role.
"Riley puts a lot of pressure on himself, feeling like he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing. As teammates, I think it's our job to just keep him up mentally," said Clayton, who doubles as Kugel's roommate. "I think Riley, he's young, he's doing a great job responding of what's being asked of him, what's going on, so I think he'll be good."
