UF Men’s Basketball Seeks Big Win Over Top Ranked Kentucky Wildcats

The Florida Gator men’s basketball team will look to bounce back on Saturday when they welcome the top ranked Kentucky Wildcats.  This will be the 11th time the Gators have faced the Wildcats when they were the number one team in the country and they are 0-10 in those previous meetings.

Despite taking all three games from John Calipari’s team last season, the Gators are 17-24 against Kentucky under head coach Billy Donovan and he notes this specific team may be one of the best.

“Obviously they’re a terrific team. They’ve got obviously a great mix of young guys, they’ve got some experienced guys that have been in the program for some years now and they have really good size and length.”

The Gators (12-10, 5-4) come into this game fresh off one of their worst performances of the entire season. The Gators fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday night while riding the momentum of one of their biggest wins of the season against the Arkansas Razorbacks just a few days earlier. Despite a tremendous performance from junior shooting guard Michael Frazier II the Gators shot a very poor 36 percent from the field.

Despite outscoring the Commodores by six points inside the paint, the Gators were dominated in the front court as they were out-rebounded by 16 and the Commodores left Tuesday night’s match up with nine blocks compared to the Gators two.

Things won’t get any easier for the Gators on Saturday night as the Wildcats boast the nation’s second best defense in points allowed per game (51) and second in blocks averaging just over seven per game. With big inside players such as freshman Karl-Anthony Towns and junior Willie Cauley-Stein taking up space inside the paint it will be very difficult for the Gators to get any penetration and Donovan knows his team has a tall task in front of them.

“You know playing Kentucky on Saturday they are going to have clearly a lot more size than what Vanderbilt had so that’s clearly got to be an area of focus for us.”

The Gators currently sit with just two players in double figures with Frazier and redshirt junior Dorian Finney-Smith averaging 13 and 12 points per game respectively. Florida will be looking for other guys to step Saturday night and that guy could be red shirt junior Eli Carter. Carter is averaging just under eight points on the season and sits third on the team in scoring. Against Vanderbilt Carter put up a total of 17 shots, converting just five and Donovan spoke about the improvements his former transfer needs to make.

“I think that he’s got to make much better decisions when he gets in the lane and he has to be a lot sharper and crisper with the ball than he has been. And he’s got to play with a better speed and pace to him.”

With Kentucky showcasing such strength inside the Gators will also need to see better outings from two of their biggest players in senior Jon Horford and sophomore Chris Walker. The two have been very inconsistent this season. Add Walker and Horford to guys like Devin Robinson, Chris Chiozza and Alex Murphy and Donovan will certainly be looking for more of a team effort on Saturday night to have any chance of pulling a massive upset.

The Wildcats (22-0, 9-0) will be entering this game on quite the hot streak having won their last four games by double digits. Despite being put to the test in their first two SEC games of the season, the Wildcats have really turned things on as of late. Coach Calipari’s bunch currently boasts two scorers in double figures in Aaron Harrison and Devin Booker who average 11 and 10 points per game respectively but scoring has come from seemingly every facet of this team. Cauley-Stein, Towns and Andrew Harrison all average over eight points per game and the team is shooting over 46 percent on the season.

Only four teams have been able to keep the final deficit to single digits this season against the Wildcats and Donovan notes that Kentucky’s strength is their ability to beat you in a variety of ways.

“You know they’ve got a lot of answers on the floor and a lot of ways I think to beat you. You know, really good teams can beat you in a variety of ways. They can do it by offensive rebounding, posting up, shooting threes, through their shot blocking, and being stifling on defense. So they have a lot of answers where if one part of their game isn’t going well for them they have a lot of other things to fall back on.”

Florida has just two wins versus the nation’s number one team under Billy Donovan and they will certainly need a lot of help to make it three on Saturday night.

You can hear all the action of Saturday’s game on our sister station Country 103.7 the Gator with coverage starting at 8:25 followed by tip at 9.

To hear the audio of the bites above, click on the links below:

Billy Donovan gives his evaluation on Kentucky

Billy Donovan says UK can beat you in a variety of ways

Billy Donovan talks about Kentucky’s size and length

Billy Donovan talks Eli Carter’s struggles

 

About Kyle Logan

Check Also

Orange & Blue Sports Network

Catch the student-led broadcasts from the College of Journalism and Communications right here.

LIVE THREAD: National Signing Day

Here’s an updated thread of all the recruits who picked the Gator hat today! RB …

AFC Divisional Round Preview: Pittsburgh Steelers

During last weekend’s NFL Wild Card round, the Steelers made a statement by handing the Dolphins a …

Houston Looking For an Upset in Foxborough

The saying has always been “it’s hard to beat a good team twice,” and in …

Blue Jackets vs. Lightning Tonight

The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be facing each other once …

Possible Additions to McElwain’s Recruiting Class Visiting this Weekend

With National Signing Day less than three weeks away, the Gators are hosting several talented …

Florida Gymnastics Prepares for Season Opener

GAINESVILLE, FL – The Florida Gator gymnastics team will kick off their season this Sunday …

Surprised Gators Promote Randy Shannon To Defensive Coordinator? You Shouldn’t Be

Florida’s head coach, Jim McElwain, announced Friday morning that Randy Shannon would be making the …

Quarterbacks in Spotlight for NFL Wild Card Weekend

The NFL Wild Card kicks off Saturday and the quarterback situations could not be any more different. On …

College Football Playoff Shakes Up Schedule

The College Football Playoff was a success in its first year. Yet, that doesn’t stop …

Michael Jordan Speaks out about Shootings, Police Officers

NBA great Michael Jordan opened up about his thoughts about shootings of African-Americans and the …

Treon Harris to Transfer

With the college football season approaching, the Florida Gators have announced that former starting QB …

USA Basketball Wins Second Exhibition Game

Just a few short days after their big win over Argentina, team USA won its …

Charlotte Is No Longer The Home Of The 2017 NBA All-Star Game

The House Bill 2 came between Charlotte, North Carolina and the 2017 All-Star Game. The …

Tampa Bay Rays Continue Series Against Oakland

The Tampa Bay Rays are continuing their three-game winning streak. The Rays defeated the Oakland …

MLB Preview Tonight

It’s summer time—the best time to go to a baseball game and experience the atmosphere. …

Braves Begin Series With Rockies

The Atlanta Braves (33-62) open up a four-game road series with the Rockies (43-51) tonight …

Marlins To Close Out Series With The Phillies

The Miami Marlins are in the middle of a crucial ten game span against NL East …

Rays Crush Rockies 11-3, Face A’s Next

In the midst of a terrible season that has seen the Tampa Bay Rays (37-57) …

American League Second Half Outlook

The second half of the baseball season is in full swing which translates to? Pennant races. Teams …

National League Evening Preview

Tonight is a busy night for the National League in the MLB. Starting with the …

Big 12 Looks To Expand

Following a Tuesday meeting between Big 12 presidents, Oklahoma president David Boren announced that the …

LSU Looks To Capitalize On Its Opportunity

The Louisiana State University Tigers will enter the 2016 college football season with high expectations, …

Muschamp Helps Close Out SEC Media Days 2016

It wasn’t Will Muschamps first SEC Media Days experience, but 2016 marked the first time …

Phil Mickelson Leads British Open After First Day

The 145th annual 2016 British Open is underway at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. The …

Missouri’s Football Crisis: Rebuilding A Program

On the final day of SEC Media Days, Barry Odom took the stand as Missouri’s head …

Second Half Of MLB Season Begins

The All-Star Break is a good time for teams to rest up and reform themselves …

British Open Underway

The 145th Open Championship is already underway at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Welcome …

Softball

Florida Gators Softball Faces off Against Mississippi State

The Florida Gators Softball team (29-4) is hitting the road to face off against the …