During the past four years, Florida was 1-7 against Kentucky. But Tuesday night in the O’Connell Center was a different story for the Gators.
No. 7 Florida (20-3, 10-1 Southeastern Conference) defeated No. 25 Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC) in a 69-52 blowout.
“It feels good to get a win against Kentucky because my whole experience playing against them I got a losing record,” center Patric Young said. “It’s nice to put a notch in the win column against them.”
Guard Mike Rosario got things started for Florida offensively.
The redshirt senior made a layup to give the Gators a 5-4 lead with 15:40 left in the first half. Seventeen seconds later, Rosario added a three-pointer after a steal by senior guard Kenny Boynton.
Florida opened up the perimeter late in the first half.
After Nerlens Noel was subbed out following his second foul with 6:26 remaining in the first half, Florida made three straight from behind the arc. With the Wildcats’ leading shot-blocker benched, the Gators finished the half with a 71.4 three-point percentage and a 38-25 lead.
“We just did a great job of moving the ball,” forward Casey Prather said. “We weren’t selfish at all. We were just trying to make our teammates better, and the guys that were open knocked down their shots.”
Young’s performance was the most impressive of the night.
With forward Will Yeguete, Florida’s leading rebounder, recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Young came up big for the Gators.
He recorded five rebounds and three blocks in the first half and opened up offensively in the second half after a slow start.
Young recorded 12 points, 11 boards, four blocks and a steal to earn his sixth double-double of the season and the 10th of his career.
“We couldn’t get near the basket on Young,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “He just physically took away the rim.”
Kentucky also had to play much of the second half without Noel. However, his absence resulted from something more serious than foul trouble.
With 8:03 remaining in the game, Noel fell awkwardly after blocking Rosario on a fast break. Noel was carried off the court by his teammates after suffering a left knee injury. He was taken to the hospital for further testing.
“It would hurt for those guys to lose a player like that because he takes up so much room in the paint,” Rosario said.
“He switches teams’ philosophy of how they’re going to attack their defense. I just hope he’s all right.”
While Florida’s 17-point win against Kentucky is the largest any team has posted against UK this season, Donovan said UF needs to maintain its focus in the midst of a long conference schedule.
“If you don’t come out and play well, there’s a good chance that you’re going to get beat,” Donovan said. “To stay at that mental and emotional high game in and game out is very, very difficult. … We need to do that to become a good team.”
Contact Katie Agostin at kagostin@alligator.org.
UF center Patric Young attempts a layup against UK center Nerlens Noel during the Gators’ 69-52 win against the Wildcats on Tuesday in the O’Connell Center.
