UK vs Florida part Deux: Game News and Notes

KENTUCKY WILDCATS (17-11, 11-4 SEC) vs Florida Gators (21-9, 8-7 SEC)
Date: Sunday, March 9
Time: 12:00 p.m. EST
Site: Lexington, Ky. - Rupp Arena
TV: CBS Game Audio: UK: [link] Yahoo!: [link]
Live Stats: [link]

Kentucky

The Wildcats look to bolster it’s hope in earning an NCAA Tourney bid. If not already, a win here would most likely put the ‘Cats in the field.

Kentucky has dropped seven straight to the Gators, including Florida’s 81-70 win in OT back in January.

Kentucky is coming off an 71-63 victory over South Carolina on Wednesday.

Kentucky Team Stats

Stats					FG	3PT	FT	Reb	Misc
Player	Pos	GP	GS	Min	FG%	3PT%	FT%	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PPG
Joe Crawford	F	27	19	32.9	46.6	35.6	78.9	3.6	2.2	2.8	0.6	0.2	2.7	17.1
Patrick Patterson	F	25	25	35.7	57.4	0.0	73.1	7.7	1.7	2.1	0.8	1.2	2.8	16.4
Ramel Bradley	G	27	25	34.4	43.4	39.1	84.2	4.4	3.3	3.3	1.7	0.2	2.6	16.0
Jodie Meeks	G	11	5	23.2	30.7	32.0	79.4	2.6	1.5	1.1	0.5	0.1	1.7	8.8
Perry Stevenson	F	28	1	23.2	55.2		76.1	4.8	0.8	1.5	0.8	1.4	2.6	5.4
Ramon Harris	F	24	22	21.5	50.0	30.4	59.0	3.5	1.2	1.9	0.8	0.5	1.5	4.0
Derrick Jasper	G	17	3	27.8	39.2	44.4	45.0	5.5	2.3	2.1	0.6	0.8	2.6	3.6
Kerry Benson	G-F	2	0	11.5	33.3	50.0	100.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0	2.5
A.J. Stewart	F	19	2	9.0	58.1		54.5	1.8	0.3	1.1	0.3	0.5	1.2	2.2
Mark Coury	F	28	27	11.4	44.1		52.9	1.9	0.7	0.7	0.4	0.4	1.8	2.2
Michael Porter	G	22	9	15.8	31.2	43.3	83.3	1.1	1.2	1.7	0.9	0.0	1.9	2.2
Mark Krebs	F	4	0	0.8	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.8
Morakinyo Williams	C	5	0	6.0	33.3			1.0	0.2	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.8
Jared Carter	C	12	0	3.8	57.1		100.0	0.7	0.2	0.5	0.0	0.3	0.8	0.8
Dwight Perry	G	7	0	2.4	0.0	0.0	66.7	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3
Dusty Mills	G	4	0	1.2	0.0			0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0
Matt Scherbenske	G	3	0	1.3	0.0	0.0		0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Florida

The Gators come in with aspirations of making the NCAA Tourney. A win here would definitely help any chance they may have. But most observers feel a SEC Tournament Championship is their only hope.

After having the Vols on the ropes most of the game, Florida lost a close one at home to Tennessee by 3 on Wednesday.

Florida Team Stats

Stats					FG	3PT	FT	Reb	Misc
Player	Pos	GP	GS	Min	FG%	3PT%	FT%	REB	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF	PPG
Nick Calathes	G-F	30	30	33.1	42.9	36.0	73.4	5.1	6.1	3.0	1.5	0.1	2.0	15.9
Marreese Speights	F-C	30	30	24.0	62.0		68.2	7.9	0.9	1.7	0.4	1.6	2.3	14.2
Walter Hodge	G	30	30	30.7	48.4	36.7	77.1	2.2	2.8	1.5	1.4	0.0	2.2	10.5
Dan Werner	F	30	29	26.6	43.5	30.6	75.8	6.6	2.4	1.8	1.2	0.3	2.8	9.2
Jai Lucas	G	30	30	30.6	47.7	44.3	73.3	1.6	2.4	1.6	0.5	0.0	1.6	8.7
Chandler Parsons	F	30	0	20.0	46.6	31.1	67.6	3.8	1.5	1.0	0.4	0.3	1.4	8.1
Alex Tyus	F	30	0	12.8	57.3		54.8	2.5	0.2	0.6	0.1	0.6	1.1	4.5
Adam Allen	F	30	0	10.4	50.0	43.9	60.0	0.8	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.1	1.4	4.3
Jonathan Mitchell	F	29	1	11.9	51.4	38.7	80.0	1.8	0.7	0.7	0.2	0.3	0.9	3.2
Michael Weisenberg	F	6	0	1.5	40.0		50.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8
Hudson Fricke	G	7	0	1.9			100.0	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3
Shane Payne	G	9	0	1.2	0.0	0.0		0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.0

Preview Thoughts

This Florida team isn’t the same as has been the last few years, but they did win in the previous matchup.

This time it will be different, with it being Senior day and the last game at RUPP this season. I expect the crowd to be out in full force, showing their love and guiding this team to victory. There’s no way that Joe and Ramel let’s this one slip.

Speaking of those two…They’ve had their share of ups and downs, but they have shown what it means to be a Wildcat. They’ve represented the University with class, played with heart and I am going to miss them.

I hope everyone at Rupp on Sunday will show those guys what they’ve meant to the program.

I wish we had them for another year, but as others before them, their time has come to say goodbye. It’s not forever, they’ll always be a Wildcat and I’m sure they’ll make a glorious return in the future.

Winning Keys

• Keep Nick Calathes in Check
• Keep control of the game
• Limit Turnovers
• Defend the 3

Headlines

• Bradley, Crawford close out era
• Kentucky Florida Preview
• Kentucky has fought its way back into the mix for a record 50th appearance in the NCAAs
• From transfer to trouper
• Battle of the Billy (Goat)s
• UF’s season in balance in season finale against Kentucky