GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike White didn’t want to indulge any of the big-picture significance of his team’s win Saturday night, whether the Gators had proved something or made any sort of statement in toppling No. 8 Kentucky so thoroughly, so impressively.
It was another SEC game, he said, and that upcoming trip to Georgia on Tuesday was where he wanted the focus.
“We can’t celebrate this but an hour,” White said. “I’m going to go home and hug my kids and have a big pizza with my wife and feel good about it, and then we’re on to Georgia. That’s it. We’ve got to play well.”
Fair enough, but for everyone else, for the 11,171 fans who crammed into Exactech Arena at the O’Connell Center and resounded with every fastbreak score and momentous 3-pointer, this was a little bigger. For the players, who aside from senior point guard Kasey Hill had never defeated Kentucky, this was significant.
And for all those nationally who weren’t quite sure what to make of Florida’s solid record or recently dominant play, well, the Gators should have some more believers after Saturday night.
No. 24 Florida addressed the only thing missing from its strong season resume Saturday night with a marquee 88-66 win over the Wildcats for its first victory against a ranked team — let alone a top-10 team.
Moreover, it snapped a 5-game losing streak to Kentucky and was the program’s largest-ever margin of victory in 137 meetings with the Wildcats.
“It’s a big statement,” junior forward Devin Robinson said. “To show people that we can compete with anybody in the country. It’s a stepping stone for us. We’ve got a long ways to go, though. It’s a long season.”
The Gators never trailed in the game, building a 34-26 halftime lead and shooting 66.7 percent in the second half to put the game out of reach.
The O’Dome was as loud as it’s been all year as the Gators formally announced themselves as legitimate contenders in the SEC, tying the Wildcats for second in the conference standings behind South Carolina and setting up an exciting final month of the regular season.
This place is fired up after Eric Hester follows with a 3 to make it a 30-17 #Gators lead. pic.twitter.com/dMiefhJojP
— Ryan Young (@RyanYoungSEC) February 5, 2017
Hill was the catalyst for Florida, matching his career-high with 21 points to lead all players. Robinson added 16 points and 9 rebounds, guard Canyon Barry chipped in 14 points, all in the second half, and backup point guard Chris Chiozza added 9 rebounds and 9 assists.
Kentucky got a team-high 19 points from point guard De’Aaron Fox, who had been a game-time decision due to a lingering illness, but Florida managed to contain the Wildcats other star freshman guard. Malik Monk was held scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting. White credited Hill and Chiozza for their defensive work on the sharpshooter.
“We just did it together,” Hill said. “This team is, we’re a family, and it’s starting to show with our performance on the court.”
The Wildcats came into the game ranked third nationally in scoring at 91.3 points per game, but they finished with a season-low scoring output. They were the SEC’s top rebounding team, but lost the battle on the boards to Florida, 54-29.
Simply put, the Gators seized the spotlight Saturday night while earning their fourth straight win by at least 22 points.
“It was just heart. We just wanted it more. We felt like we wanted it more and we were going to go take it,” Robinson said. “We just fought hard from the beginning and we had to prove to these guys that we’re not soft and just be physical. They was chatting at the beginning, talking about, ‘Oh, you guys are soft’ and all that. And we just took it in, like, ‘All right, we’re going to show you that we’re not soft.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari concurred with Robinson’s evaluation.
“Look, I’m going to go back to this, Florida outplayed us, outcoached us. They did everything sideways,” he said. “It was a great environment. The new building looks great. They deserved to win. They wanted it worse than we wanted it, or at least it appeared that way.”
Kentucky drew within 37-33 early in the second half, but Florida would soon launch a stretch in which it hit 11 of 12 shots to seize a 71-52 lead and full control of the game.
That spurt was capped by a fastbreak dunk from John Egbunu, off a steal and assist by KeVaughn Allen, a fastbreak layup by Hill on a nice outlet pass from Chiozza and a fastbreak layup from Allen on successive possessions. That also overlapped with a run of 13 straight points.
White is correct. There is a lot of season left, including a return trip to Kentucky on Feb. 25, but what the Gators did Saturday night makes that which is still to come all the more intriguing.
“As I just told the guys, hey, beating Kentucky’s great. They’re one of the best teams in the country,” White said. “But we’re 8-2. We’re halfway through league play. We’ve got a ways to go.”
Player of the game: Kasey Hill
Some two hours before tip-off, Hill was out on the court by himself tossing in 3-pointers. He would say later that this was not anything special, not out of the routine.
But for whatever the reason, Florida’s senior point guard was dialed in from the start while matching his career-high with those 21 points. He scored 8 first-half points despite being limited to 8 minutes due to a couple quick fouls, and then he fell right back into rhythm after halftime.
Overall, he finished 8-of-16 from the field and added 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
“I thought he was fantastic,” White said. “I’m so happy for him with the fact that he stepped up and made some big offensive plays to complement how he’s playing defensively.”
Calipari admitted the Wildcats weren’t expecting Hill to beat them with his mid-range game to the extent he did Saturday night.
“Kasey Hill is not known as a jumpshooter. He made 5 straight shots,” Calipari said. “That happens against us. Guys have beer muscles. All of a sudden they’re better than they are. I’m not saying … because I really like Kasey Hill, I like him as a player and I recruited him because I know him.”
A fastbreak dunk from John Egbunu and a fastbreak layup from Kasey Hill makes it a 69-52 #Gators lead. pic.twitter.com/pD9blxTe1T
— Ryan Young (@RyanYoungSEC) February 5, 2017
Kasey Hill leads all players with 16 points as #Gators continue to lead #Kentucky, 58-47. pic.twitter.com/x3RawPRxCw
— Ryan Young (@RyanYoungSEC) February 5, 2017
Turning point
Florida never trailed, but there was that one moment early in the second half where it looked like Kentucky was poised to seize the momentum.
Fox had just converted a fastbreak layup and free throw to cap a 7-0 Wildcats run and cut the Gators’ lead to 37-33, which was the closest the game had been since more than 13 minutes remained in the first half.
But Canyon Barry responded with the next 5 points to stunt the rally. He had been scoreless in the first half, but his 3-pointer from the left side pushed the lead back to 42-33 and fired up the O’Dome crowd yet again. That 3 started that run of 11 makes in 12 attempts.
The game was never close again.
Key stat line
The most stunning stat was Florida’s 54-29 rebounding advantage. Kentucky came into the night averaging an SEC-best 40.8 rebounds per game while the Gators ranked 12th in the conference at 37.0.
“I’m going to take the easy way out — probably just a combination of recommitting to that being our biggest focus as we’ve talked about here,” White said. “Now it’s four in a row since these guys met with each other for a couple hours and refocused on defensive rebounding. It’s funny that we’ve played our best offensive basketball as well because that’s where our focus has been. …
“To me it was the key to the game. The fact that they got 6 offensive rebounds. And that’s two games in a row now, our best two rebounding performances probably in the last couple years, against Missouri and against Kentucky tonight.”
What’s next for Gators
Florida travels to Georgia on Tuesday for the conclusion of the teams’ regular-season series.
The Gators defeated the Bulldogs, 80-76, in overtime in Gainesville on Jan. 14.
Georgia has lost a bunch of close games, losing 77-75 at South Carolina on Saturday, falling in overtime at Kentucky after a near upset and losing 63-62 at Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs are led by Yante Maten, who averages 19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, and J.J. Frazier, who averages 15.9 points and 4.2 assists per game.
Florida-Kentucky box score
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