Florida guard Will Richard speaks to the media after win over Quinnipiac
The Florida Gators emerged victorious once again on Saturday afternoon, downing the Quinnipiac Bobcats and extending its current win streak to six games.
Saturday’s matchup with the Bobcats was the final non-conference game for the Orange and Blue, as the Gators will charge head-first into the SEC slate of the season with a contest against the Kentucky Wildcats.
Florida guard Will Richard had another stellar performance, racking up a team-high 22 points along with five makes from beyond the three-point line. Richard cooked throughout the month of December and continued to bring the heat during the final game of the 2023 calendar year.
Richard participated in the post-game media conference and had plenty of good thoughts to share with the world as the Florida basketball program prepares to ring in the new year.
On getting big win before the new year
I would say it was big just because coming back from break, sometimes you could take a day off and feel like you come back lazy and stuff and not be in that rhythm. It was definitely a huge game for us to win and just to finish off the month undefeated.
Finding his stride
For me, it was just trusting my work. I’ve put in a lot of hours in the gym just shooting and stuff and I’m just trusting in the work I put in and letting the game come to me.
Team's preparedness for SEC schedule
I think we’re ready for sure. We had a tough non-conference. We played some really good teams. We know what to expect. Everybody’s ready. Everybody’s ready to battle.
What he's learned while playing in SEC
For me, it was just definitely a lot more physical than it was at my previous school. Just the physicality of it and you have to come and bring your best every night.
Where team has shown the most growth
We’re playing more together. I feel like our joy has definitely come back and we’re having fun out there playing as a team. I feel like we’ve been a lot more locked in. Our practices have been similar to the game so I feel like every game we’re prepared because we’re going so hard in practice.
Undefeated streak in December
Really, it’s just taking it game by game. Nobody wants to lose, and we all came together and we wanted to win. So, just taking it game by game, knowing it was in our reach to do it. So, let’s go do it.
Florida's intense practice regime
Yeah, for sure. We feel like playing in practice definitely gets us more prepared for the games. So, I feel like we’ve been in a lot more game scenarios in practice, which is why in the game it feels a lot more normal and natural when we’re out there.
Defensive adjustments in first half against Quinnipiac
We put a real emphasis on not letting them get second-chance points buckets. I feel like they were getting the majority of the 50-50 balls and scoring, so it was just locking in on defensive rebounding and just getting stops and trying to translate to buckets on offense.
Team expectations at this point of the year
It’s definitely a different feeling than last year. With this group of guys, we feel like every game we’re in we should win it. So, just going out there with guys who are bought into what Coach is wanting to do and just knowing that we want to win as much as possible.
Next up
Florida opens up its Southeastern Conference schedule next Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats inside the O’Connell Center on Jan. 6. Tipoff is scheduled for an early 12:30 p.m. ET start and the game can be watched on ESPN.
Read more
Five takeaways from Florida’s blowout win over Quinnipiac
PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida’s win over Quinnipiac
Highlights from Zyon Pullin’s post-game media scrum
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