The Gators had an opportunity to tie the game at the end of regulation, down three with the ball and under thirty seconds remaining but ultimately a prayer from Myreon Jones bounced off the rim and the Kentucky Wildcats came away with a 72-67 win. Kentucky punched the Gators in the mouth early and controlled for much of the game but Florida kept things close the entire way and nearly tied it, but it wasn’t meant to be. While the Gators need to start getting the close games like this to better their NCAA Tournament chances there is no shame in a 5-point loss to Kentucky at Rupp, but it won’t make the loss hurt any less.
Battle Of The Bigs
Entering the game the biggest storyline was the matchup at center with Oscar Tshiebwe returning as the player of the year in college basketball and Colin Castleton looking to prove that he deserves a seat at the table when discussing the best bigs in the game. Adding to the competitiveness level is the fact that Tshiebwe edged out Castleton in production last year, but the battles were close. In this iteration? Advantage Castleton. Finishing with 25 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks Casleton was the best version of himself on both sides of the floor and gave the Gators a chance at the win. Tshiebwe, on the other hand, finished with only 4 points on 2-14 shooting–though he did 15 boards with 7 coming on the offensive glass. Castleton deserves credit for his work holding off Tshiebwe defensively but it was a team effort with a lot of the guards and wings helping down and making sure his night was uncomfortable.
Stepping Up
Another player who gave the Gators a chance at a win was Kyle Lofton who contributed with some uncharacteristic three-point shooting. Lofton hasn’t been a good shooter throughout his career and entered Saturday night’s game shooting 27% from three, but he went 3-3 from deep and those makes were like found money for a team that needed someone to step up and make a shot. Florida considered Lofton to be one of the best leaders on the team and he definitely led on this night, though it wasn’t enough to come up with a victory.
Cold Streak
It was a rough game for Kowacie Reeves off the bench, finishing 1-7 from the field and 0-3 from behind the arc. Reeves is known as a shooter but he has had a tough go of things in conference play and after Saturday’s game is now 7-46 (15%) from three in SEC play. Todd Golden and his staff still believe in Reeves as a shooter and he has the green light as of now but what was once a cold game here or there is now turning into a longer stretch of cold play and it’s a tough break for a Florida team that is looking for someone who can make shots.
A Rare Seventy
With Kentucky scoring 72 points it’s only the second time in SEC play the Gators have allowed over 70 points with the other game being a win against Georgia where the Bulldogs hit some desperation threes at the end to close a large score gap. Generally the Gators were pretty tight defensively against the Wildcats but they had enough breakdowns during Kentucky’s sets to allow them to put up 72 points which is a ton against a Florida team that has been so good defensively.
Final Thoughts
In a vacuum there wasn’t a ton wrong with this game for Florida, and losing by 5 to Kentucky on the road isn’t an embarrassing outcome by any stretch. However, with Florida’s resume being what it is–eventually they’re going to need to win some games like this where the projected outcome is close if they want to make the NCAA Tournament. Once again the Gators offense wasn’t great, and while their defense was good, it wasn’t elite–and they needed a few more stops if they were going to steal this one.