Will Wade reacts to LSU beating Florida

LSU head coach Will Wade shared his reaction to the Tigers beating Florida on the road on Wednesday night. Here’s some of what he said after the contest.

Opening statement: “Alright, how about that? Look, I thought we got off to a great start, which was huge. They were going to come out desperate and playing hard. I thought we got off to a great start. Shareef (O’Neal) helped us big time closing that first half with all the foul trouble that we had. And give our guys credit, man. I mean, we’re a tough out.

“We got guys that step up and come through for us. (Eric) Gaines made some huge plays down the stretch, (Brandon) Murray made some huge plays down the stretch. You know, we just dug it out there. We didn’t have our normal lineups in there, we had lineups in there we’ve never practiced with. Our guys just found a way.

“I thought the first half was really good. We got off to a great start, we ended the first half well. I thought Shareef did, like I said, I thought Shareef did a good job. I thought our offense was flowing. We wanted to attack that paint.

“Scored 42 points in the paint, something like that, and we only took nine threes tonight. We were just relentless attacking that attack in that rim. Very proud of our guys. That’s a heck of a win now. Really, really good, especially without Pinson, basically played without Pinson, Eason and Efton tonight. I mean that’s incredible.”

On the tough environment and how the Tigers handled it: “We were better. I thought our discipline was better, our attention to detail was better. We did a nice job. Darius Days played tremendous as well. Look, this has been a tough place for him to play. I told Days afterward, ‘You were saving them all up for this one, I guess.’ But he played really well. But thought our discipline was much improved.”

On his team: “I mean, look, we had to play who we had. We only had so many guys available. We had (Xavier Pinson) out, we had two guys fouled out, we only had so many guys available. And you know, we trust those guys. They’re here for a reason. They’re all good players. Listen now, think about this. We’re playing Alex Fudge 19 minutes.

“We’re gonna be much better in the long haul for this, you know, going through all this, going through all this on the road. I mean, this is just going to keep getting us better and better and better. And so, that’s what it’s about. We trust those guys.

“Look, Eric Gaines prepared and Justice Williams as well, they prepared so well for this game. I don’t know if I’ve ever spent so much time with two point guards preparing for a game. Incredible, the preparation for this game with those two. I told Gaines, ‘It’s a lot more fun my way, isn’t it?’ But I mean, look, give him credit man. He was bought in; he’s done what he needed to do after the setback at Auburn. He’s been tremendous.”