Todd Golden ready for Florida's "Statement Opportunity" vs. Kentucky

Kentucky has beaten Florida nine of the last ten times, with the Gators’ only victory in that stretch coming in February 2021 in a Rupp Arena devoid of fans. Florida is pulling out all the stops for tomorrow’s SEC opener vs. the No. 6 Cats, calling for an Orange Out in Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, which has been sold out for weeks.

In their second year under Todd Golden, the Gators are 10-3 with losses to Virginia (Nov. 10), Baylor (Nov. 24), and Wake Forest (Nov. 29). They’re riding a six-game winning streak and are up to No. 35 in the KenPom Ratings. Kentucky opened as an underdog in this game on FanDuel, which shows you just how close this game could be. Yesterday, Golden met with reporters to preview what he’s calling a “statement opportunity.”

“Saturday is a really big game for us. Kentucky is a top 10 team right now and they’ve played really well all year. They’re a really exciting team and if we can take care of our home floor, protect it, and get a win I think it will continue to pour into what we’re trying to do this year.”

Golden is a big fan of analytics, so, in turn, he’s a big fan of Kentucky’s offense. As we’ve told you several times over the past few weeks, the Cats are scoring at a historic clip. Kentucky is No. 8 in KenPom’s offensive ratings, No. 9 in effective field-goal percentage (58.2%), No. 2 in three-point percentage (41.6%), and No. 4 in turnover rate (12.6%).

“They’re an elite offensive team,” Golden said of Kentucky. “They play with great pace. They have multiple perimeters who can really push it and play make. They’re an elite effective field goal percentage team and they’re an elite ball-handling team. They don’t turn it over very much.”

Golden knows the Cats have two players in particular to thank for that…

Reed and Rob as “six and seven starters”

When asked which Wildcats impress him the most, Golden gave special mention to Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, who are consistently ranked among the nation’s best freshmen and top draft prospects even though they come off the bench. A lot of Kentucky fans take that to mean that Reed and Rob should start, but I prefer Golden’s angle: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Reed and Rob are like additional tanks coming over the hill in the first timeout.

“They have a lot of different playmakers. [DJ] Wagner starts for them but [Reed] Sheppard and [Rob] Dillingham are fantastic and they come in off the bench but the way we’re treating it when we talk to our guys is that they’re six and seven starters. They’ve got guys that are finishing the game for them and when they come in, it’s going to be equally if not more difficult to guard them than their starting group.

“They look like they’re playing with some joy and some freedom and they’re sharing the ball. They’re impressive to watch for sure.”

Golden: “We’ve got to own the boards”

If Florida has one edge on Kentucky, it’s rebounding. The Gators lead the nation in rebounds per game at 45.4, are fourth in offensive rebounds per game at 16.2 per game (Texas A&M, Kentucky’s opponent next weekend, is No. 1), and fifth in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 41.3% of their misses. Golden knows that to have a shot against Kentucky, the Gators have to win the battle of the boards. Rebounding has been a weakness for Kentucky thus far, with the Cats most recently being outrebounded by Illinois State 45-40, 24-7 on the offensive glass.

“You got to do everything you can to make them miss on that first shot and then we’ve got to own the boards. That’s got to be something that’s a strength for us on Saturday because they’re a good offensive rebounding team but they’re not an elite offensive rebounding team and I think defensively my hope is with them traveling and us being at home, that our physicality and our pace will show up that way as well. Again, they make a lot of baskets and they don’t turn the ball over. They’re a very, very good offensive team.”

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board. New members can try 1 month for $1.