Florida basketball scored its biggest victory so far this season with a road win over the eighth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday afternoon, 98-84.
The Gators were led by Xaivian Lee and Rueben Chinyelu, both of whom contributed 20 points to the cause, while the latter also notched his 10th double-double of the campaign on 10 rebounds. Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh came close to joining Chinyelu in the double-double club, dropping 16 and 18 points, respectively, with eight boards apiece.
Lee’s improved 3-for-7 mark from beyond the arc was also a critical factor in the win, as was Isaiah Brown’s 14 points off the bench to spark the offense.
After the game, Todd Golden, along with Brown and Lee, spoke to the sports media about Saturday’s epic top-10 triumph.
Todd Golden’s opening statement
“This is a huge win for our program. First of all, ton of credit to Vanderbilt. They’re a great team, and what Mark (Byington) has been able to do here in a short period of time is, especially in this day and age of college basketball, is really impressive.
“Be a top-10, -12 team analytically halfway through his second year, I think, speaks volumes about him as a coach, his staff, his players. They’re really good, man. This is a great team here, and it makes me even more proud of our group being able to come in here and find a way to win in a great environment. We showed a lot of grit and toughness today.
“It wasn’t perfect, but we did a great job on the boards. Credit to Reuben in the second half, and X (Xaivian) Lee late in the game, stepping up, doing what you need guys to do to win a game like this, hitting big shots that aren’t necessarily drawn up, just players making place. And our guys did that today.”
Golden on the jersey issues
“We left the jerseys at home….Everything’s under my jurisdiction, but I don’t necessarily check to see if we have the jersey before we leave, so we woke up this morning, didn’t have them, and we scratched, and found a way to make it happen. I would like (Lee) to wear 99 the rest of the year. We’ll see how that goes.”
On Rueben Chinyelu’s second-half performance
“Offensively in the first half, we played pretty well. We were getting good shots. We scored 44. He just didn’t get a lot of touches throughout the course of that half. At halftime, we talked as a staff about making sure we got him some low block touches, because it calms us down and it slows the game down. It makes the tempo of the game kind of more the way we want to play.
“So, first half is more on me and the coaching staff for not getting him more touches. In the second half when we did, he took advantage of those opportunities.”
Golden on Alex Condon playing through the crowd’s ire
“Yeah, Alex is an incredible competitor, man. I think some people might get fazed by the fans yelling at him or chanting at him. I think he enjoys it. I think it rallies him. He’s incredibly tough kid. Like, that’s not going to bother him. He’s just gonna continue to play.
“Really, really big-time effort by him down the stretch to knock two free throws down and make the game over. A lot of times, those moments are too big for people. You leave it short, you miss them, and now you’re in a situation where you’ve gotta guard and decide if you want to foul or not. He stepped up, made both three throws, and made our jobs as coaches a lot easier the last six seconds of the game.
“But he’s obviously won a lot in his career. He’s a winning player, and, you know, I feel great having him, Ruby (Chinyelu), and Tommy (Haugh) out there down the stretch to find a way to get us home.”
Isaiah Brown on having a big game on his 20th birthday
“An amazing birthday present. That was on my mind, how to bring that win home.”
Brown on Condon’s late-game free throws
“Before he shot them, I looked at him and said, ‘Calm down. Slow down, take your time.’ He calmed down, slowed down, took his time and made pressure free throws.”
Xaivian Lee on winning the game
“It was crazy. It was like no one was getting stops for either team, but I was proud of how we kept composed in that atmosphere. Obviously, it’s nice to win one of those after losing them earlier in the season.”
Lee on his go-ahead 3-pointer
“I try to shoot every shot with confidence, whether they going in or not. … Late-clock. I think Rueben and Condo were down low and really didn’t have much space to go by them. I just thought, ‘Got to go up.'”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball’s postgame quotes following Vanderbilt win