When Kentucky and Florida first played at the start of the season on January 9, the Wildcats undoubtedly won their most impressive win of the season with a dominant 76-58 win over the Gators, who were still trying to find their way without Keyontae Johnson. The victory was Kentucky’s third straight game to start the conference game and seemed to suggest that the Wildcats had doubled the situation after a bad start to the season.
That idea turned out to be a scam – Kentucky lost seven of its next eight games – but the Wildcats (8-13, 7-7 MON) are back on the rise in Saturday’s rematch. The Gators (12-6, 8-5) have won six of their last eight, however, and would certainly enjoy a little redemption for the most unequal defeat of the year.
As the dispute over sowing the SEC Tournament continues, this game has a special meaning. Florida is trying to close a goodbye and improve its projection as No. 7 seed for the NCAA Tournament, according to Jerry Palm’s latest Bracketology. The Wildcats, for their part, are trying to prove that their latest resurgence is legitimate and that they will be a force to contend with in the league tournament.
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Viewing information
- When: Saturday 4pm (Eastern Time)
- Where: Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky
- TV: CBS | Live broadcast: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App (free)
- OTT: CBS Sports app (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast)
Storylines
Kentucky: A theoretical physicist could potentially invent a scenario in which Kentucky ran the NCAA Tournament as a general team, but that would require the Wildcats to win their final three games of the regular season, win three games in the SEC Tournament and then lose in the title game ended 14 -14 overall, after winning nine of the last 10 games. But let’s be honest: the Wildcats’ only realistic chance of dancing is to win the conference tournament. Even that would have seemed absurd just a few weeks ago, when they were 5 to 13 years old in total. But after three consecutive victories, this team finally seems to have put their worst fights in the rear view mirror. The attack looked particularly good in the first half of an impressive 70-55 victory in Tennessee last Saturday. Winning the volunteers was a sure sign of growth, considering that Kentucky collapsed in the second half of a home defeat for them just two weeks earlier. The emergence of the Isaiah Jackson freshman center was particularly important. He has an average of 16.3 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, making 60.9% of his attempts to shoot during the three-game winning streak.
Florida: It was fair to imagine how the Gators would deal with the loss of Johnson, the pre-season SEC player of the year, after his frightening collapse on the court against the state of Florida on December 12. But Florida has been quietly one of the most consistent teams at the SEC, winning six of its last eight games to establish itself in a solid position for one of those SEC Tournament doubles. The appearance of Colin Castleton, transferred to Michigan, remains a welcome revelation, having fought for minutes in two seasons in Michigan. But Florida will need Castleton to produce more this time than in the first game against Kentucky, when he finished with just six points and three rebounds. The Gators’ top scorer, Tre Mann, also finished with just seven points in the first game, his lowest score in a game this season.
Game preview, choose
Mann and Castleton’s poor performance in the same game during the first encounter was an aberration. The Gators are strong these days, and Kentucky must have a defeat. Prediction: Florida 77, Kentucky 74
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