No. 24 Florida basketball annihilates No. 8 Kentucky

Losing to them is no way to build a Tournament resume, and Arkansas’ lack of top-end wins means it’s nearly a lock to be seeded far lower than what one would typically expect for an SEC team with such a good record.

Florida also received good news concerning its frontcourt depth as freshman forward Keith Stone was cleared to practice on Monday and will be available to play against the Bulldogs.

The Gators exited with the win and their players strolling through the stands, high-fiving fans.

It’s amusing how things can change, perspectives can twist on us throughout a season. The Gators and Kentucky square off in Lexington on February 25, in what should be a highly important week for Florida basketball. But Michael White’s team had other ideas.

“(My) legs weren’t under me, but people play through sickness and I’m back now”, he said.

“With these guys embracing playing for each other, if so-and-so gets the rebound and you don’t, we got the rebound”, White said. “And it’s amusing. we’ve played our best offensive basketball”.

Hill blew off his part of the meeting, but did think it was very productive.

“Those are all learning experiences that, as we’re growing as a basketball team, you have to look back on that”, Justus said. “Everybody had a little something to say”.

No. 8 Kentucky has plenty of time to right things and a schedule that works in its favor. “Everybody said the right thing, and everybody was listening”. “They are doing what they do well, and that’s something as a coach you – I would imagine for them – they feel good about”. I imagine Arkansas would be pretty excited to see the Tide in the No. 4-vs. -No. And that goes for anybody on the team. “Our guys are embracing every day those lessons and then growing from them”. Florida improved to 2-10 against ranked teams under White, winning for the first time since upsetting West Virginia in January 2016. The chemistry was compared to that of the 2014 team with a group of older players that all played a lot together. “I think we have a talented group”. When shots are falling and steals are generating offense for these Gators, they are absurdly hard to beat; when those things aren’t happening, Florida is still exceedingly unlikely to be out of any game, thanks to a smothering defense that makes nothing easy.

Florida beat its last three opponents – LSU, Oklahoma and Missouri – by at least 30 points.

But Florida did earn the same sort of resounding victory over an elite team in a Saturday showcase game just past year. Kentucky’s inexperience was simply too much in the big game, as the Wildcats had a total of 17 turnovers and they weren’t able to keep a lead. “Everything opens up when you’re making shots”. Kentucky was able to cut Florida’s second half lead to 4 points, but the Gators (18-5, 8-2) used a 13-0 run with under 7 minutes left to pull away from UK. Just before the two game losing streak to SC and Vanderbilt, the Gators beat Georgia in overtime at home. Hill scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, dropped six dimes, grabbed five rebounds and only turned the ball over three times.

But Saturday night in Gainesville, they combined for just seven points, although they did produce nine rebounds between them. UF snapped a five-game losing streak to United Kingdom, earning its first win against the hated rivals since March 16, 2014, and improved to 6-2 on ESPN College GameDay, including 6-1 against Saturday night’s visitors.

If it’s true, as reported by several people, that the Gators were inspired by Isaiah Briscoe’s remarks in the first few minutes of the game that Florida was “soft”, the United Kingdom coach might want to start there.