FINAL: Kentucky survives intense SEC opener, downs Florida on the road 87-85

When Kentucky needed a bucket down the stretch, an unexpected hero stepped up to knock it down. 7-foot-1 freshman center Aaron Bradshaw hit the biggest shot of his life with less than 90 seconds to go in regulation, lifting the Wildcats (11-2) past the Florida Gators (10-4) by a final score of 87-85 in the Southeastern Conference opener on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville.

Bradshaw’s triple — just his third of the season — broke a 76-76 tie with 1:27 left on the clock to give Kentucky a three-point lead. The Wildcats would hit enough free throws down the stretch to sneak out with a win that never felt certain. In fact, UK trailed for the vast majority of the game, only leading for a little over five minutes. But the Wildcats hit big shots when they needed to.

It resulted in a 1-0 start to kick off SEC play. Kentucky has now won 10 of its last 11 matchups against Florida.

As a team, Kentucky struggled from beyond the arc (5-20) and a little bit at the stripe (20-28) while turning the ball over nine times compared to just six assists. And yet, John Calipari’s group pulled out a tough win that could have easily wound up as a loss.

Five Wildcats hit double-digits, led by 19 from Antonio Reeves. DJ Wagner chipped in 14 points while Tre Mitchell posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double despite dealing with cramps in the closing minutes. Bradshaw finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Reed Sheppard added 14 points (six of them coming at the line in the clutch) and five rebounds.

Florida’s rowdy, orange-coated environment appeared to shake up the younger Wildcats in the first half. Although Kentucky struck first by going up 8-4 in the opening minutes, the Gators landed the first punch. Riley Kugel was red-hot early on, extending Florida’s lead to 19-12 after a personal 7-0 scoring run.

Mitchell and Reeves would keep Kentucky alive though. Kugel picking up his third foul with roughly 11 minutes in the first half didn’t help the Gators’ cause either. The Wildcats were able to keep pace with Florida, even knotting the score at 27-27 with under eight minutes until the break. But a 15-4 run by the Gators made it a double-digit lead for the home team.

Kentucky was able to chip the deficit down to just eight, 45-37, at the break, but not much was working overall. UK was 1-10 from beyond the arc and had seven turnovers to just two assists. Mitchell was up to 12 points and eight rebounds at halftime with Reeves chipping in nine points of his own. Take away a pair of banked-in three-pointers from Florida and the score would have looked much closer.

Out of the locker room, Kentucky turned up the intensity. A stepback triple from Wagner gave the Wildcats a 51-49 lead, the team’s first since early in the first half. It didn’t last long though. Florida scored nine straight points to go back in front by seven.

The game of runs would continue from there. Kentucky cut the Florida lead down to just one, which was countered by five straight points from the Gators. Neither team could create enough separation to build a sizable advantage. Florida would go in front 72-69 before Reeves converted an and-one to tie the game up. The score would remain even as the clock dipped below two minutes.

With just under 90 seconds left, the aforementioned Bradshaw hit the biggest shot of the game, a massive triple from the top of the key that gave Kentucky a 79-76 lead. UK picked up a stop on the other end and then hit several clutch free throws (primarily from Sheppard) to close out the game, stealing an impressive road win from the Gators.

Up next: Kentucky will return to Lexington where the Wildcats host Missouri (8-5) on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.