First Scouting Report: Kentucky goes for a season sweep of Florida

Mark Story
·2 min read
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:

The opponent

No. 6 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2 SEC) will face Florida (14-6, 4-3 SEC) on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington.

The game will tip off at 8 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN.

Florida beat Georgia 102-98 in overtime Saturday for the Gators’ third consecutive win.

Series history

Kentucky leads the all-time series with Florida 110-41.

As UK head man, John Calipari is 24-9 vs. the Gators.

Florida coach Todd Golden is 0-3 against the Wildcats.

Florida coach Todd Golden has led the Gators to a 14-6 start, including 4-3 against Southeastern Conference foes.
Florida coach Todd Golden has led the Gators to a 14-6 start, including 4-3 against Southeastern Conference foes.

Most recent meeting

Aaron Bradshaw hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:27 left in the game to break a 76-76 tie and Antonio Reeves led five UK players in double figures with 19 points as Kentucky rallied from 11 points down in the first half for an 87-85 victory at Florida on Jan. 6, 2024.

Aaron Bradshaw’s top-of-the-arc 3-point basket late in Kentucky’s game at Florida on Jan. 6 sparked the Wildcats to an 87-85 victory.
Aaron Bradshaw’s top-of-the-arc 3-point basket late in Kentucky’s game at Florida on Jan. 6 sparked the Wildcats to an 87-85 victory.

Power rankings

In the Pomeroy Ratings, Kentucky is No. 20 and Florida No. 35.

The NCAA NET rankings have Kentucky No. 22, Florida No. 43.

Know your foe

1. Florida has not been a good road team. The Gators are 1-3, with the sole victory coming in their most recent road outing, a 79-67 win at Missouri on Jan. 20. Otherwise, Florida has lost all their true road games by double digits, falling 82-71 at Wake Forest in the ACC/SEC Challenge and losing league away games at Mississippi, 103-85, and at Tennessee, 85-66.

2. As has been a persistent theme to the Kentucky season, the Wildcats had trouble defensively containing the Florida backcourt in the first meeting between the teams. Gators guards Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin each went for 23 points vs. UK.

That duo combined to make five of the nine 3-pointers Florida hit while going 9-of-31 on treys vs. UK.

Those two are the top scorers on the season for Florida, with Clayton, a transfer from Iona, averaging 15.9 points and Pullin, a transfer from the University of California Riverside, averaging 14.9.

3. A big key for Kentucky in the win over Florida in Gainesville was that the Wildcats essentially fought the Gators to a draw in the rebounding battle, losing it only 43-40.

That was huge because Florida, which is plus-10 in rebounding margin on the season, is the ninth-best rebounding team in the country by that metric. Conversely, Kentucky, at plus-1.3, is 173rd in Division I men’s hoops in rebounding margin.

Florida has three players — Tyrese Samuel (8.3), Micah Handlogten (7.9) and Alex Condon (6.9) — averaging at least 6.9 rebounds a game. UK has one player, Tre Mitchell (7.5), averaging more than seven boards a contest.

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