By Kenneth Cross
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida star Riley Kugel brought his game back together and he led the five Gators in double figures with 20 points and Florida took a 90-68 win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Kugel was held scoreless on Wednesday evening as Ole Miss took a 103-85 win over Florida. He joined his teammates in pushing the Gators to a 27-9 lead with 10:51 to play in the first half.
“The reality is we’re not the best versions of ourselves unless Riley Kugel is playing well and you guys can see with your own eyes today,” said Gators coach Todd Golden. “The way he attacked the game, you can tell from the jump, that this guy was going to have a good effort, a good night and he just played incredibly well.”
Kugel completed his fourth double digit game in his last five outings as he scored nine of Florida’s 11 points in the second half to give the Gators a 70-51 lead with 9:48 to play.
“We knew we had to go into today aggressive,” explained guard Will Richard. “We knew we had to make a big adjustment on defense and just come out playing with effort, playing together and just holding each other accountable.”
Kugel connected on a three off the board and then a slam on a drive to the basket on the fast break after Florida forced an Arkansas turnover.
“I saw the lane and took it, really,” Kugel said.
Samuel Returns as Well: Tyrese Samuel was back on Saturday as he had a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Samuel scored on a layup and hit a three as the Gators started fast in turning a 7-5 deficit into an 18-7 Florida run.
“It was big,” said Samuel. “It was a confidence booster and I needed that. My coaches this week asked me if everything was OK, are you good and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m good. I’m going to get back and make sure I’m ready for the remainder of the season.'”
Samuel’s double-double was his third in Florida’s last five games.
“They (coaches) emphasized that they’re (Arkansas) a good second-chance team with offensive rebounds and put-back dunks so they emphasized that so locking down everything was good for us,” noted Samuel. “We were plus-17 on the boards today.”
Golden was pleased with so many complementary performances of Kugel as Will Richard came up strong as well with three triples in his 13 points. Zyon Pullin posted 15 and Walter Clayton, Jr., was also in double figures with 11 points.
“‘Rese is one of our best guys, right, so when he plays like that, and then Will … .” said Golden. “You know, I thought, the funny thing is I thought Will played well against Kentucky with the exception of the shooting.”
Defensive Effort Pushes Gators: Florida held Arkansas to 37.7 percent from the field as the defensive effort worked for the Gators from the beginning. Golden stressed how the Gators had been a solid first half defensive team and he thought we would see that again on Saturday after the tough start at Ole Miss on Wednesday.
“In the second half, I just thought our communication was much better, I thought our ball-screen coverage was much better, and over the course of both halves I thought our ability to get to 50-50 balls was the best today that it’s been all year,” explained Golden.