Kasey Hill stepped into the shot with confidence.
With an Arkansas defender flying out to greet him, Hill launched a high-arching three-pointer from the top of the key.
It found the bottom of the net, giving the Gators a commanding lead with just over three minutes left in the game.
“They were going under all night,” he said. “I just stopped behind and shot it with confidence, and it went in.”
Hill scored 12 points and had four assists on the night, as No. 12 Florida (24-6, 14-3 SEC) defeated the Razorbacks 78-65 on Wednesday night in the O’Connell Center.
After four long years, it was Hill’s final game in the O’Dome.
On Senior Night, the Gators started all four of their seniors for the final home game of the season.
Graduate transfer Canyon Barry scored five of UF’s first seven points.
Justin Leon scored on a wide-open layup. Hill swept in a reverse layup.
And finally, Schuyler Rimmer scored his first and only points about four minutes into the game, hitting a right-handed hook shot over the SEC’s top shot blocker, Moses Kingsley, capping off a 14-6 run for UF. The bucket ensured every senior scored at least once.
“Those guys are deserving,” UF coach Mike White said of the group. “They’re four good players. They’ve been a huge part, obviously, of re-creating a winning culture here.”
Florida was active on both side of the court to start the game, holding Arkansas (22-8, 11-6 SEC) to 34.5-percent shooting in the opening half, while shooting a blistering 56.7 percent from the floor itself.
A pull-up three by sophomore KeVaughn Allen gave the Gators their biggest lead of the night at 32-17.
Behind guards Dusty Hannahs and Jaylen Barford, however, the Razorbacks cut into Florida’s once large lead.
Barford led all scorers with 18 points and Hannahs nailed a trio of three-pointers en route to 13 points.
Arkansas first cut UF’s lead to single digits about six minutes into the second half, but Allen answered with a tough layup — his only bucket of the second half.
Allen went down on the play and struggled to put weight on his left leg as he hobbled to the bench. He returned a few minutes later, though.
He scored 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
As the final half continued to dwindle away, the Razorbacks continued to fight back.
Then Keith Stone came alive.
The redshirt freshman scored eight points and grabbed three crucial rebounds in nine minutes of action. A corner three-pointer by Stone gave UF a 64-53 lead with under six minutes to play.
“He was playing like the way he was earlier in the season,” Hill said of Stone. “(He) got his confidence back.
“We’re gonna need him to keep playing like that.”
Despite the bounce-back win, however, White said his team has to move forward. UF takes on the Commodores in its final game of the regular season on Saturday.
White celebrates his birthday on Thursday, but he said he won’t actually be celebrating.
“(I’ll) probably be stressing about Vanderbilt,” he said.
Contact Ray Boone at rboone@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @rboone1994.
UF guard Kasey Hill attempts a lay-up during Florida's 78-65 win against Arkansas on March 1, 2017, in the O'Connell Center.
