Gators fall to Kentucky at home, 82-74
The Florida Gators (14-14, 7-8 SEC) lost in a back-and-forth contest against the Kentucky Wildcats (19-9, 10-5 SEC) on Wednesday night in Gainesville, 82-74.
After a sluggish start, the Gators went on a 22-6 run in the final 8:17 of the first half. A Riley Kugel triple gave Florida its first lead of the game up just one point going into the half.
It was the Wildcats who came out with a sense of urgency out of the locker rooms. Oscar Tshiebwe led a 14-6 run in the first 5 minutes of the second 20.
Still, the Gators hung around. With 13:47 left, Niels Lane gave the Gators a 51-50 lead with a converted and one.
It was a Chris Livingston offensive rebound and putback with 49.1 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 5-point lead. The Gators failed to cut the deficit quickly and lost by eight points on their home floor to fall sub-.500 in conference play.
Kentucky shot 53.2% from the floor compared to Florida’s 50%, but that percentage was enough to lift the Wildcats to their fourth straight win over UF.
Player stats
Riley Kugel lead the Gators for a second-straight game in the scoring column with a career-high 24 points including four 3-pointers and hitting six of his seven free throws.
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Meanwhile, Kowacie Reeves came off the bench for Florida and made his mark with 16 points and three rebounds.
Niels Lane played a season-high 24 minutes off the bench. He provided a big body on Kentucky’s Jacob Toppin while scoring a season-high 8 points.
Leading the team with five assists was Kyle Lofton with nine in the scoring column. He seemed to be in sync with Jason Jitoboh, who tied for his season high with 8 points.
However, Tshiebwe was one of four Kentucky scorers in double digits with 25 points, 21 more than he had in the first matchup. The Wildcats only really utilized their starters as they all had at least 34 minutes of gam action.
Looking to the weekend, the Gators will take on Vanderbilt in Nashville, and they’ll look to avoid another season series sweep.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
