In a game that was an absolute battle from the opening tip right until the final play, the Florida Gators were able to hold on for an incredible win over the home Kentucky Wildcats by a score of 66-64. Kentucky had the final possession of the game to try to send the game to overtime or win on a three point shot but three stellar defensive plays consecutively sealed the win for the Gators. First, Egor Koulechov was able to get a block rotating over to save a layup. After the following inbounds Jalen Hudson had a game saving block of his own, forcing the ball out with less then three seconds on the clock. Finally, the inbounds pass was tipped away by Kevarrius Hayes to Chris Chiozza who sealed the game by throwing the ball into the frontcourt to kill the clock, and the Gators escaped with a victory. Point guard Chris Chiozza showed tremendous senior leadership with 13 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds while battling cramping all night that could have meant the end of the game for a player without his toughness. With the win, the Gators stay on top of the SEC standings and put some distance between themselves and the Wildcats—a team many thought would battle the Gators for the SEC title. These teams will have a rematch on March 3rd (Florida’s final SEC regular season game) that will take place in Gainesville.
Winning Ugly
One of the criticisms of the Gators this year is that they are a team that can only win when their shots are falling. Well, they proved again tonight that they can win tough, ugly games. Shooting 33.3% from the field, 20% from 3, and 64% from the charity stripe, the Gators still found a way to win with timely buckets and outstanding defensive efforts. Jalen Hudson (4-13), KeVaughn Allen (4-16), and Egor Koulechov (0-8) all struggled from the field but showed tremendous hustle in other ways to help their team win. This won’t be the last grind-it-out game the Gators will have to play this season so this win on the road will be valuable experience.
Turnover Margin
Though the Gators were undersized all over the floor and didn’t always rebound well (though Kentucky only finished with 3 more offensive rebounds then Florida did), they made up possessions a different way by dominating the turnover margin. The Gators only had 6 turnovers to the Wildcat’s 17, a number that is a testament to Florida’s veteran guards as opposed to the inexperience of Kentucky. When you win the turnover margin by 11 it is going to keep you in a lot of games and the Gators showed how you can win when you only shoot 33.3%, and it’s by taking care of the ball.
Out Of Bounds Plays
Big time shout out to Mike White and the coaching staff for drawing up all kinds of excellent inbounds sets that led to some easy offense on a night where the Gators couldn’t get a lot of easy buckets. Whether it was getting an lob for Hayes, getting an open shot for Hudson, or just getting the ball in safely to Chiozza without fear of a trap, this was excellent coaching. Success of coaching can be hard to quantify sometimes but I always look at the success of inbounds sets as an indicator, given they are as close to a controllable as you can get in basketball. I’m sure Calipari has even more respect for Coach White after tonight.
Top 25?
I think this win should elevate the Gators back into the AP Poll Top 25. When I look at the teams currently in the top 25 I don’t see many teams with the same wins Florida has (Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Kentucky) and I do see teams with losses as bad as Loyola-Chicago (the biggest knock against the Gators) so I think they have proven they belong.
What’s Up Next
The Gators head home to Gainesville to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Florida would love to get some revenge on the team that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament last year in the Elite Eight, even though key players from that team like Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier have moved on. This isn’t a glamorous South Carolina team but they play extremely hard and play extraordinary defense. We saw this Gamecocks team come back in the second half against Kentucky to win the game comfortably so they are unquestionably legit. This should be a tough, physical, grind it out SEC basketball game.
What did you think of tonight’s thrilling victory by the Gators? Leave a comment here or post on the Gator Country forums.