Kentucky-Florida Glance: starters, stats, story lines
NO. 1 KENTUCKY (22-0, 9-0 SEC)
AT FLORIDA (12-10, 5-4 SEC)
Game time: 9 p.m.
Site: O'Connell Center (11,548), Gainesville, Fla.
Favorite: Kentucky by 7
Series: UK leads 94-37. Last meeting: Florida won 61-60 on March 16, 2014 in Atlanta, Ga. (SEC Tournament)
Television: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Shannon Spake)
Radio: WHAS-AM 840 (Tom Leach, Mike Pratt)
FLORIDA
Pos. Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Kasey Hill 6-1 So. 4.1* 7.4
G-Eli Carter 6-2 Jr. 2.2 7.8
G-Michael Frazier II 6-4 Jr. 4.7 13.4
F-Dorian Finney-Smith 6-8 Jr. 5.7 12.8
C-Jon Horford 6-10 Sr. 4.8 6.6
* assists per game
Key reserves – Chris Walker, F, 6-10, So., 5.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg; Devin Robinson, F, 6-8, Fr., 5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg; Jacob Kurtz, F, 6-6, Sr., 4.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg; Alex Murphy, F, 6-8, Jr., 5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg; Chris Chiozza, G, 6-0, Fr., 3.9 ppg, 2.1 apg;
KENTUCKY
Pos.Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Andrew Harrison 6-6 So. 4.0* 8.2
G-Aaron Harrison 6-6 So. 2.5 11.0
G-Dominique Hawkins 6-0 So. 0.9* 2.0
F-Karl-Anthony Towns 6-11 Fr. 6.1 8.5
C-Willie Cauley-Stein 7-0 Jr. 6.4 8.7
* assists per game
Key reserves – Devin Booker, G, 6-5, Fr., 10.6 ppg, 1.3 apg; Dakari Johnson, C, 7-0, So., 7.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg; Tyler Ulis, G, 5-9, Fr., 5.8 ppg, 3.6 apg; Marcus Lee, F, 6-9, So., 3.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 bpg; Derek Willis, F, 6-9, So., 2.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg; Trey Lyles, F, 6-10, Fr., 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg.
STORY LINES
1. Not a typical Florida team. After four consecutive Elite Eight appearances and last year's Final Four, it seemed safe to pencil in Billy Donovan's Gators as one of the SEC's top two teams yet again. Turns out, it's tough losing four senior starters, including All-SEC picks Scottie Wilbekin, Patrick Young and Casey Prather. Wilbekin was the league's Player of the Year, Young the Defensive Player of the Year. They, along with Prather and Will Yeguete, accounted for 58 percent of the scoring and 51 percent of the rebounding on last year's squad that won 30 consecutive games.
Take the name off the uniform and this year's results would not be surprising. The Gators are 12-10 and have lost four of the last six games, including Tuesday at Vanderbilt, which had previously won just one SEC game. And yet, Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis said, "I'm expecting them to be fired up, come out ready to play, play better than they usually do – like most teams do against us." With ESPN's College GameDay show in town, the O Dome will be rocking.
2. Revenge for the Wildcats? Gainesville has been unkind to Kentucky the last two seasons. Former star Nerlens Noel tore his ACL in a 17-point loss there in 2013 and the Gators thumped the Cats by 19 there in last year's regular-season finale. "They've got really good fans. Their fans are crazy," junior 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein said. "The way their gym's set up, it's like they're on top of you. It's loud and they're just yelling on top of you. They're really into it. You can always hear what they're saying, no matter where you're at."
But Kentucky looks good enough and Florida bad enough that a measure of redemption could be coming. The Gators swept three games against the Cats last season – the first team to do that since 1979 – including a one-point loss in the SEC title game when James Young slipped and fell with a chance to attempt a game-winning shot. "I don't even think that's in anybody's head, for real," Cauley-Stein said. "It's just about going and playing against ourselves. We aren't really playing against anybody else."
3. Clash of coaching stars. Donovan has led Florida to 14 NCAA Tournaments, seven Elite Eights, four Final Fours, three NCAA championship games and two national titles in 18 seasons. Calipari has taken three programs – Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky – to the Final Four. In his first five seasons in Lexington, the Cats have been to four Elite Eights, three Final Fours, two title games and won the 2012 NCAA championship. With a win Saturday, UK will be 23-0 and match the 1966 team for the second-best start in program history.
– Kyle Tucker