With Kentucky just one sleep away, the Florida Gators basketball team finds themselves in the best place they’ve been since the Mike White era began. After three consecutive wins of more than 30 points, Florida’s confidence is higher than it’s been all season.
Now, the Gators do not expect to keep the streak going against a team that averages 91.3 points per game, but they do feel that they match up well enough to have a good chance to come away with a win on Saturday. Mike White has no concern that his team will be overwhelmed by Kentucky’s talent level.
“I think there is respect, a healthy respect there,” said White. “I think we are a more confident team than a year ago. At the same time, our guys, they just don’t think, ‘Oh we’re going to blast Kentucky, show up tomorrow, play average and beat them’. They know better than that, but I think our guys probably feel like we need to play very well to beat them. But if we play very well, we will have a chance, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s a healthy level of confidence and respect there.”
One of the biggest keys Saturday will be finding a way to keep the Wildcats’ outstanding offense in check, specifically, finding a way to keep freshman Malik Monk in check. Monk has the ability to be a dagger on offense, averaging 22.4 points per game. He has already hit and SEC-leading 70 three-pointers this season.
Monk is one of the top guards in the country and next to impossible to stop, which is why the Gators are not focused on stopping him. They just want to put enough pressure on him to make things hard and keep him from winning the game for the Wildcats.
“He can make contested, tough threes, jump 40 inches and jump backwards and jump sideways,” said White. “He’s got an ability to get it off whenever he wants. We just have to make sure that everyone is contested and make everything he does, make it hard. Just make it hard. We have to make him work. If we’re really locked in and he doesn’t get an easy one, that’s job number one. We also know that he’s going to make some hard ones. He’s got the ability to do that, and we can’t get discouraged. We’ve got to stay the course.”
If Florida can do that, it will have a chance to come away with the signature win it’s been looking for. Not that the Gators especially need a resume booster with their strength of schedule, but it is a win that would look nice on their already impressive resume.
Besides the want for a signature win, the Gators are hungry for success against Kentucky. With five straight losses to the Wildcats, most Florida players don’t even know what beating Kentucky is like. Kasey Hill is the only player on the roster with a win in this game in his career.
“I think it’d be a huge breakthrough win for us, if we can get it done,” White said. “The environment is going to be great. If we play well, maybe we’re in a position to where it’s a two-to-three-possession game there, where two-to-three possessions in the second half, if we do this as opposed to this, we can overcome. We can get over the hump and win a really big one.”
In preparation for the 46-hour turnaround, the Gators took it light on the physical side of practice on Friday. Studying Kentucky is the main point of focus until 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, as Florida, must condense a lot of new information into the shortest time frame between games this season.
The stage is set for Florida’s biggest game so far this season, with College GameDay coming to town, a sellout crowd and the opportunity to take down a National Title contender. The Gators must bring the focus and maturity they have put together over the last two weeks to make the dream of taking down the Wildcats a reality.