Samuel, Pullin Rescue Wobbly Gators from Missouri, 83-74

Senior night arrived a few days early for Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin. Florida’s grad transfers will get their O-Dome night to remember complete with hugs and standing ovations next week against Alabama, but they came through against Missouri Wednesday night when the Gators were in dire need of a spectacular effort.  

photo credit - floridagators.com

The Gators (20-8, 10-5 SEC) were wobbly and threatening to do the unfathomable, which is to bring an end to Missouri’s 0-for-14 run in Southeastern Conference play, when Samuel and Pullin went beast mode in the final 7:16. The two combined to score 23 of Florida’s final 25 points, turning a 58-56 clutch your chest panic attack into an 83-74 exhale of a win that among other things keeps the Gators in the hunt for the coveted double bye at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

It was out of necessity that Samuel and Pullin took the game over. Leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. was on the bench, having picked up a fifth foul on a technical with 14:08 left in the game, leaving the Gators without their volume scorer and backup ball handler. From all outward appearances, Clayton did nothing to merit getting teed up, but the officials saw it otherwise.  

“They said he used bad language towards the [Missouri] bench,” Florida coach Todd Golden said with a stone face. “I'm not going to comment on that.”

The Gators were up by nine (51-42) when Clayton was lit up with the tech that ended his night, causing a momentum shift. What followed was a rash of whistles that went against Florida, helping Missouri to chip away at the foul line. It was a foul call on a 3-point attempt by Nick Honor that gave the Tigers three free throws that closed the gap to 55-54 with 9:36 left in the game. Referee Vladimir Voyard-Todal signalled Pullin got Honor on the arm. The replay, shown on the big center court video board, seemed to indicate otherwise. The O-Dome crowd did its best to raise the roof voicing its displeasure.

Between outrage with the zebra and concern that the Gators were on the verge of letting another big lead slip away, anxiety in the O-Dome was thick enough that a chainsaw couldn’t have cut through it. The combination of Missouri momentum and Clayton sitting on the bench was unnerving. The Gators were in a real funk, desperately in need of someone, anyone to grab them by the lapels and slap them back to consciousness.

That’s when Pullin and Samuel did what veterans who have been there and done that before do, which is lead. The first step in the right direction was a 3-pointer by Pullin with 7:16 to go that extended the lead to 61-56, beginning a basket-trading frenzy that kept the Gators uncomfortably ahead. The Tigers closed to within one once again, this time on a 3-pointer from 7-5 center Connor Vanover with 5:30 left that cut the margin to 66-65.

They could have sold Tums at the concession stand at that point. It was reflux time at the O-Dome but as uncomfortable as the crowd was, both Pullin and Samuel weren’t dismayed.

“We’ve been in situations like this, you know, even worse situations, so it was just staying together,” Pullin said. In that final 7:16 he scored nine of his 21 points for the game.

Samuel, who had a career-best 28 points to go with 10 rebounds, scored 14 in the closing minutes.

“I think we played great down the stretch,” Samuel said. “We didn’t panic, like I said, poise was key. We didn’t panic, I had all the confidence that we still were going to win the game. I knew ‘cause the shots weren’t falling for us in the beginning, but at the end they started to fall, so, I knew it was probably going to get that dub at the end.”

After the Vanover 3-pointer, the Gators outscored Missouri 17-9 to close things out. The only break from the Samuel-Pullin scoring show was a dunk by Micah Handlogten with 2:58 remaining, fittingly on a pass from Samuel. During that final 7:16 run, the Gators hit 11-13 from the field.

By no means was this a masterpiece of a win although all wins, particularly at this time of the season look beautiful when they’re in the books. No two wins are ever alike, but this one was different because Clayton, who has been money in close games all year, was unable to contribute for the last 14 minutes.

So, Samuel, who transferred to Florida from Seton Hall, and Pullin, who came to UF from UC-Riverside, picked up the slack. Samuel was unstoppable on the inside. Pullin handled the Missouri full court press flawlessly and got the Gators into a flow against a 1-3-1 zone that had caused some second half problems.

Minus Clayton and with Will Richard having a rough night from the outside (1-8 on 3-pointers), Florida struggled offensively with Vanover on the back end of the 1-3-1. When Pullin hit that three it loosened up the zone a bit. Samuel moved to the high post where he could put the ball on the deck, drive to the rim and use either hand to get the ball in the basket over Vanover, who had a 7-inch height advantage.

“There's only so many different things you can draw up against the zone,” Golden said. “You got to have some feel, you got to have some good decision making and be a basketball player. I felt like that showed big time for him in those moments just with his tight catches and then his tight moves and tight space being able to put it in with either hand, and and-1 finishes, that don't I can't remember who he punched it on.”  

This is the time of the season when the grind of an 18-game SEC schedule takes its toll, separating the good teams from the average, the average from the bad. The better teams have players who embrace the pressure of tight games. That’s what Samuel and Pullin did.

“Obviously, Tyrese was a grown man tonight,” Golden said. “He did an incredible job, 28 points, 10 rebounds. ZP was great as well. Two seniors really stepped up tonight and we found a way.”

The win kept the Gators within two games of Southeastern Conference leaders Tennessee and Alabama and with a mathematical chance to win the SEC regular season championship. The Gators are a game behind third place South Carolina, their Saturday opponent in Columbia. Florida is in a three-way tie for the fourth and final bye at the SEC Tournament.

Getting to 20 wins in the regular season, 10 in SEC play is a big deal since it all but assures the Gators will make the NCAA Tournament field. Reaching 20 and 10 is also a sign of how much progress Florida has made in Golden’s less than two full seasons on the job.

Not bad for a team that was picked middle-of the-pack by both the SEC and national medias before the season began.

“I would have hoped to make the tournament this year, but you go and look at the coaches in this league that have had a lot of success,” Golden said. “It takes awhile to get good. I think Bruce's [Pearl] first tournament team [at Auburn] was year four. I think Rick Barnes’ first tournament team[at Tennessee] was year three. Nate’s [Oats] was year two [at Alabama]. “Cal [John Calipari] was year one [at Kentucky]. I think Buzz [Williams] was four or five [at Texas A&M.

“It’s really hard, especially with how good the league is at the top with Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky. Like, it's not that easy to break into that mix, especially considering every single one of those programs that I just mentioned, their coach has been there for a long time and they have very sustained programs and sustained success. So for us to be in that equation, yeah, I think we're a little ahead of where we quote unquote should be in year two.”

Game notes: Before he departed the game, Clayton had 13 points, three rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot and two steals … Handlogten had one of his best games of the season with 12 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Handlogten hit 6-8 shots from the field … Samuel, who leads the Southeastern Conference in field goal percentage, hit 12-16 shots from the field … Pullin was 4-5 from the 3-point line … Missouri’s Nick Honor had scored 18 points with 9:36 left in the game. Golden put Riley Kugel on him the rest of the way and Kugel not only held him scoreless but allowed only one shot from the field (miss on a corner three) and didn’t foul him (Honor was 8-8 from the foul line) … The Gators scored 15 points off 11 Missouri turnovers and 42 points in the paint … Florida held Missouri to 4-23 from the 3-point line. In the last three games, the Gators have held opponents to 17-77 (22 percent) on their 3-pointers.

SEC BASKETBALL

Wednesday’s scores: No. 24 FLORIDA (20-8, 10-5 SEC) 83, Missouri (8-20, 0-15 SEC) 74; No. 4 Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 SEC) 92, No. 11 Auburn (21-7, 10-5 SEC) 84; No. 14 Alabama (20-8, 12-3 SEC) 103, Ole Miss (19-9, 6-9 SEC) 88; No. 18 South Carolina (23-5, 11-4 SEC) 70, Texas A&M (15-13, 6-9 SEC) 68

Saturday’s games: No. 24 FLORIDA (20-9, 10-5 SEC) at No. 18 South Carolina (23-5, 11-4 SEC); No. 4 Tennessee (22-6, 12-3 SEC) at No. 14 Alabama (20-8, 12-3 SEC); Mississippi State (19-9, 8-7 SEC) at No. 11 Auburn (21-7, 10-5 SEC); Arkansas (14-14, 5-10 SEC) at No. 16 Kentucky (20-8, 10-5 SEC); Ole Miss (19-9, 6-9 SEC) at Missouri (8-20, 0-15 SEC); LSU (15-13, 7-8 SEC) at Vanderbilt (8-20, 3-12 SEC); Texas A&M (15-13, 6-9 SEC) at Georgia (15-13, 5-10 SEC)

UF BASEBALL: Gators whack Bethune-Cookman, 9-2

The 4th-ranked Gators launched three home runs Wednesday night at Condron Family Ballpark, taking out Bethune-Cookman, 9-2. Colby Shelton hit his third homer of the year, a 3-run shot over the right field fence, in the bottom of the first. Tyler Shelnut’s third homer of the year was a 2-run job to center field in the bottom of the third. Jac Caglianone hit a 3-run homer down the right field line in the bottom of the eighth, his second of the season.

The Gators sent five pitchers to the mound with freshman lefty Robert Satin picking up his first career win, allowing one hit while walking two and striking out four in three innings after relieving starter Fisher Jameson. Florida pitchers gave up six hits and struck out 10 but they walked eight and hit two batters.

“I gotta look at the ball-to-strike ratio,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s gotta be close to 50/50. A lot of deep counts tonight. We walked eight, hit two, so we had 10 [free] batters and to be able to do that and to only give up two runs is hard to do.”

The Gators (6-2) will travel to Coral Gables for the annual 3-game series with Miami at Mark Light Stadium.