Walter Clayton Jr. assesses his start to SEC play, roommate Riley Kugel

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators dropped their first two SEC games this season, but starting junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. opened conference play with a pair of 23-point performances.

Clayton has had five 20-point games and leads Florida in scoring, averaging 16.2 points. Here’s everything Clayton said about the Arkansas game, Ole Miss loss and Riley Kugel, his roommate.

Walter Clayton Jr. Q&A

On bouncing back from a performance like Wednesday’s at Ole Miss:

Clayton: “Just come in and just identify your problems, identify what stuff went wrong and just try and fix it in practice. You’ll get better at it.”

On processing a big loss after all of Florida’s close games this season:

Clayton: “Like every other one, just learn from it. You know, identify your mistakes, identify the little things that you did right, and just continue to get better.”

On the lesson from the loss:

Clayton: “The lesson, just be tougher, mentally and physically, you know. They just came out and there and just punked us, so that’s – there’s multiple lessons, but that’s definitely probably one of the biggest ones.”

On what having more pride on defense entails:

Clayton: “It’s always going to be, it means a lot, you know, I think as a team, like all of us, you know, some of the simple stuff like rebounds, having two people in the area and they had one and then come up with the rebound, so some simple stuff like that. We had a lot of possessions where we just didn’t finish them out. Simple things such as doing a better contest. Definitely gonna need to play with some more pride moving forward.”

On his success as a scorer to start SEC play:

Clayton: “I’m just hitting shots, hitting some shots, and that opens some things up for you. Being able to get to the paint, bigs ducking in, helping us.”

On where he developed his tough mindedness: 

Clayton: “Tough mindedness, I guess how I grew up a little bit, you know, my environment, a little tough-minded. Just how I can say, where I came from. Just my environment, you know, where I grew up at home.” 

On if he came from a very competitive, athletic world:

Clayton: “Yeah very competitive, just a lot of dog-minded, you know.”

On how going against Zyon Pullin in practice has helped: 

Clayton: “It’s been a while since we’ve been against each other, yeah, both being on the same team in practice. But when he first got here, we were on different teams. It’s definitely helped a lot, he’s a great guard, love being in the backcourt with him, so definitely, I think it helped both of us a lot.”

On what areas the team can improve defensively: 

Clayton: “In all aspects. Watching the film, just better ball-screen defense, better close-outs, better contesting, better contest on jumpshots, you know, not fouling, and so there’s a lot of aspects we can get better on defense.” 

On his relationship with Riley Kugel 

Clayton: “I live with Riley, me and Riley are really close.” 

On his reaction to the Ole Miss game:

Clayton: “Obviously we need him, we need for him to be at his best for us to be at our best. Keep going. Sometimes things are a little tough, but you’ve just got to be able to fight through it. Just, how you respond to things. So how are you going to respond?” 

On how he has responded this week:

Clayton: “For sure, it’s tough, you know, expectations. I think Riley puts a lot of pressure on himself, feeling like he’s not doing what he’s supposed to be doing. Us as teammates, I think it’s our job to just keep him up mentally. So him, just keep going. 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.” 

On if they knew each other before UF:

Clayton: “Not too much, a little bit.” 

On the challenge of expectations when you are young:

Clayton: “It just depends, honestly is just depends on who you are, how you think. Sometimes it can get to you, sometimes it can’t. But you know, just, self-pressure, you can’t put a lot of pressure on yourself. You just gotta go out there … because what we think of him, all these expectations, or whatever, we think Riley is doing a great job. We see him every day. We’re the ones in there grinding with him every day. So, I think not putting that pressure on yourself will help you out a lot.” 

On whether he guards Kugel in practice:

Clayton: “No.” 

On Todd Golden calling Kugel one of the best athletes in college basketball:

Clayton: “For sure, definitely. You all see glimpses of it, but I see it every day. What he’s doing, it’s phenomenal. Like one of a kind.” 

On how his athleticism is one of a kind:

Clayton: “Athleticism, that ain’t something you can really work and get. You can lift all the weights you want to. That’s just something you are born with, so he’s got that.” 

On if being even keel can help Kugel:

Clayton: “It can help him a lot you know. Being able to just control your emotions. I think he does a good job of that. I don’t think he gets too high or too low, so I think it’s just great for him being able to control his emotions.”