LEXINGTON, KY — It came down to prayers Tuesday night. On one end of the floor Jodie Meeks’ prayer got answered when he came up with a three-pointer that defied possibility with 4.7 seconds left. On the other end, Nick Calathes’ prayer to redeem himself for missed free throws in the final minute of a loss at South Carolina two weeks ago will have to wait for another time and another opportunity.
Meeks’ answered prayer gave the Kentucky Wildcats (17-7, 6-3 SEC East) a 68-65 win over the Florida Gators before a crowd of 24,355 at Rupp Arena. The prayer that went unanswered was three missed free throws that could have tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Three free throws. Three clangs of the iron. And the guy at the line is the guy you want there in that situation. Calathes, who finished with 33 points, was 11-12 at the line up to that point. He had literally taken the Gators on his back and willed them into a situation where they had a chance to sneak out of Rupp with a win that could have kept Florida (19-5, 6-3 SEC East) in first place in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference.
But the first shot clanged off the iron, sending the Rupp crowd into a frenzy of expectation. When the second one missed, they were dancing in the aisles. The third one was an attempt to bounce it off the rim and into the hands of a Gator for a desperation three.
“I just missed them,” said a dejected Calathes, who admitted that he wanted to be at the line in just this situation.
The lasting memory will be of Calathes coming up empty, but other Gators had their chances to win it with free throws. Chandler Parsons missed two free throws with 2:40 left that could have extended Florida to a 64-59 lead. Dan Werner tied the game at 65 with a free throw with 40 seconds left but he missed the second one and that set the stage for Meeks to throw up a prayer that couldn’t have been defended any better.
There was no question that Meeks was going to take the last shot for Kentucky. His three-pointer with 3:05 remaining brought Kentucky back to life just when the Wildcats looked like they were going to lose their fourth game in a row. He hit two free throws with 49.3 seconds left that gave Kentucky a 65-64 lead.
Meeks wanted to take the last shot from the right side of the key but freshman Ray Shipman cut him off and forced him to the left where he was picked up by Calathes. Calathes crowded him and as Meeks went up for that game-winning shot, Calathes slapped the ball loose.
“I touched the ball and even slapped it out of his hand and he still got it up,” said Calathes. “I don’t know if I could have played better defense. I hit the ball out of his hands and changed his shot but he still made it.”
Somehow Meeks got control of the ball while still in the air and he somehow got the ball in the air.
“God was on my side when I hit that shot,” explained Meeks, who finished with 23 points to lead the Wildcats.
Florida inbounded the ball to Calathes who was two steps across midcourt when he cut loose with his desperation attempt to tie but Kevin Galloway came flying at him from the left side, just catching his fingers. The Rupp crowd thought the game was over and they just about blew the roof off the arena with their boos when the foul was called. In most last second situations, the officials won’t make that call.
“I feel bad for Nick because if not for Nick we would have never been in that situation,” said Florida coach Billy Donovan. “Nick made a great play. He was aggressive. He got fouled. I really didn’t see the play because I was blocked out. Give the officials a lot of credit on the road to make a call like that.”
This was a game of what could have been for the Gators, who survived an 18-4 Kentucky run in the first half and an 8-0 run in the second to come back and put themselves in position to win. The Gators did it with toughness, relentless effort and a short bench in the second half.
Florida was forced to play the final 16:12 of the game when senior Walter Hodge was called for a flagrant technical foul in the aftermath of a foul call on Kentucky’s Perry Stevenson. Stevenson flew at Chandler Parsons, who was launching a three, and both players went to the floor. A foul was called on Stevenson, but as both teams rushed to their fallen players, Hodge looked like he was stepping over Stevenson. Another whistle blew and the officials huddled, then went to the replay monitor. After several minutes of discussion, Hodge was called for a flagrant technical and was ejected from the game.
“The officials were put into a bad situation because they have a job to do and they have to make a decision and they are making a decision based on intentions,” said Donovan. “You really never know anybody’s intentions but they’re looking at where he’s looking, where his eyes are and did he see him in front of him … those type of things.”
Losing Hodge forced Donovan to play with only seven players the rest of the way but the Gators responded. It was a 36-34 game when Hodge went out. At the 12:32 mark Florida led 45-39 on a Shipman fast break layup on a pass from Parsons.
Kentucky made its 8-0 second half run starting with a Meeks floater in the lane with 11:34 remaining. When Patrick Patterson swooped in for a layup with 9:44 left, Kentucky seemed ready to take control with a 50-47 lead.
The Rupp crowd erupted again but 38 seconds later there was silence when Patterson sprained his ankle. When he left the game that opened up the middle for Calathes and Alex Tyus. The Gators outscored Kentucky 13-6 to take a 62-56 lead with 3:19 remaining. Calathes scored six and he made perfect alley-oop passes to Tyus for four more.
That put the Gators in position to win the game down the stretch but the free throw shooting — so good for so much of the game — went sour. The Gators were 3-9 when it counted and that was the difference.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Gators, who have gone down to defeat in the final seconds in two of their three SEC losses. You could give them a moral victory for playing hard and tough in a hostile environment, but moral victories count the same as losses and this was a hard one to swallow.
Donovan could only hope the Gators will find a way to grow from the adversity.
“I really hope this experience takes their focus level to a different level,” he said. “When I say a different level, I mean in every little thing we do that if they are not laser-sharp in everything then it could come back and bite you.”
This loss bit the Gators hard. Road wins in the SEC are hard to come by and this is the second winnable game that’s gotten away in the same manner at the end. Florida responded well to the last road loss. The Gators hit the road Saturday to face Georgia in Athens, a game that now looms as critical.
For Kentucky, it was a great escape from what would have been a fourth straight loss. The Wildcats have to go on the road Saturday to face Arkansas in Fayetteville.
GAME NOTES: Calathes became the 43rd player in Florida history to join the 1,000-point club. He has 1,002 in his career … Kentucky outrebounded the Gators 39-26 with Stevenson, Patterson and Galloway each grabbing eight. Calathes led Florida with seven rebounds … Tyus was the only other Gator in double figures with 14 points … Florida shot 22-54 from the field … Werner, Parsons and Hodge combined for only eight points and 2-15 shooting from the floor.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
East Division
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L Pct.
Florida6 3 .667 — 19 5 .792
South Carolina6 3 .667 — 17 5 .773
Kentucky 6 3 .667 — 17 7 .708
Tennessee 5 3 .625 ½ 14 8 .636
Vanderbilt 4 5 .444 2 15 8 .652
Georgia 0 8 .000 5½ 9 14 .391
West Division
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L Pct.
LSU 7 1 .875 — 19 4 .826
Miss. State 6 2 .750 1 16 7 .696
Mississippi 4 5 .444 3½ 13 10 .565
Auburn 3 5 .375 4 14 9 .609
Alabama 3 6 .333 4½ 13 10 .565
Arkansas 1 7 .125 6 13 8 .619
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Kentucky 68, Florida 65
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Arkansas at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Louisiana State at Mississippi State, 8 p.m.
Georgia at Tennessee, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 14
Florida at Georgia, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Kentucky at Arkansas, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
South Carolina at Alabama, 3 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 3 p.m.
Mississippi State at Auburn, 5 p.m.
Mississippi at Louisiana State, 7 p.m.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Alabama at Florida, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Georgia, 7:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
South Carolina at Mississippi State, 8 p.m.
Louisiana State at Arkansas, 8:05 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 21
Vanderbilt at Florida, 3 p.m.
Tennessee at Kentucky, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Mississippi State at Alabama, 3 p.m.
Georgia at Mississippi, 5 p.m.
Arkansas at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Louisiana State, 8 p.m.