Gators squander early lead, miss chance for upset
.JPG "Florida guard KeVaughn Allen makes a layup past Kentucky forward Reid Travis during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Stamey)")
The Florida Gators had every opportunity to get a statement win against No. 7 Kentucky on Saturday. They led by as many as 11 points in the second half. And it looked like the Gators would pull it off had they not run out of energy in the closing minutes.
Instead, Kentucky took advantage of a fatigued Florida team late in the game to grab a 65-54 win at the O’Connell Center.
Florida isn’t typically a team that jumps out to a quick start offensively. But the Gators opened the game hitting on six of their first 12 shots.
And it was almost one of their better defensive outings of the season, until a second-half onslaught by the Wildcats that saw them shoot 50 percent from the field.
Florida’s interior defense had forced Kentucky to remain on the perimeter for most of the first half, where it shot just 3 of 14 from three-point range.
Center Kevarrius Hayes had two blocks within the first five minutes of the game. And he was the catalyst of Florida’s standout defensive effort for the first half and through part of the second half.
The senior’s three blocks accompanied five rebounds on the game.
And Hayes’ ability to be aggressive on the offensive glass created opportunities for the Florida offense, many of which it couldn’t capitalize on late in the game.
He swatted a rebound in the direction of senior guard Jalen Hudson early in the second half, but Hudson couldn’t hit on the other end.
Hayes later had a putback after getting his own offensive rebound, and he followed that up by drawing a charge on the other end of the court.
And for a team that runs much of its offense through perimeter shots, the Gators got to the paint, scoring 30 points in the interior.
Freshman Andrew Nembhard highlighted what was otherwise a pedestrian shooting day for the Gators. His 12 points led the team, though ten of them came in the first half.
No one else on Florida’s roster scored more than six points before the break, while UK’s PJ Washington and Tyler Herro combined for 18 of the Wildcats’ first half points.
While Florida was the more aggressive team for about 30 minutes of the game, carrying a 33-29 lead into the break, Kentucky was the better group when it mattered in the second half.
UF looked unsettled down the stretch, scoring just 21 points in the second period. Kentucky’s size started to disrupt some of the Gators’ smaller guards. And with four of its five starters hitting the 30-minute mark of playing time, Florida simply ran out of gas.