No. 14 Florida vs. No. 25 Kentucky

 
* When: Saturday, 3 p.m. (ET)
* Where: Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center / Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (18-6, 9-2) / Kentucky (17-7, 8-3)
* Series/Last meeting: Kentucky leads 111-42, including six wins over the previous seven. The Wildcats took the alone meeting last season with a 106-100 victory at Lexington that served as the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. The Gators went to Rupp Arena unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in the nation in defense, but the Cats shot nearly 58%, hit 14 from the 3-point line and had a half-dozen players in double-figure scoring. Reserve fifth-year guard Koby Brea made seven of his nine shots from 3 on his way to 23 points, while UF fell despite 33 points from senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who hit six 3s. The loss halted the second-best start in Florida program history, but also served as a message for the Gators about their defensive priorities. Obviously, they fixed some things from there in going 23-3 the rest of the way in the run to the program’s third NCAA championship.   
* TV: ABC Network (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD 
  (with Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan) 
* Ticket info

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Projected Starters

 

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Alex Condon	F	6-11 / 230	Junior	13.3 pts / 7.9 reb
Rueben Chinyelu	C	6-10 / 255	Junior	11.8 pts / 11.8 reb
Thomas Haugh	F	6-9 / 215	Junior	17.5 pts / 6.2 reb
Xaivian Lee	G	6-4 / 185	Senior	11.0 pts / 3.9 reb
Boogie Fland	G	6-3 / 185	Sophomore	11.4 pts / 2.5 reb / 3.8 ast

Kentucky	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Andrija Jelavic	F	6-11 / 225	Sophomore	5.7 pts / 4.1 reb
Malachi Moreno	C	7-0 / 250	Freshman	8.4 pts / 6.3 reb
Collin Chandler	G	6-5 / 205	Sophomore	9.4 pts / 3.0 reb
Otega Oweh	G	6-4 / 220	Senior	17.1 pts / 4.4 reb
Denzel Aberdeen	G	6-5 / 195	Senior	12.3 pts / 2.5 reb / 3.2 ast

The Setup

No. 14 Florida and No. 25 Kentucky meet in a game with significant ramifications relative to the race for the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship. The Gators sit alone atop the league standings, with just a one-game lead on the second-place Wildcats and Arkansas. Five other teams (Vanderbilt, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Missouri) are two games back, so a lot can happen over the final four weeks (and eight games each) of the league campaign. … The Gators have won nine of the previous 10, including four straight (three on the road) by an average margin of 27.3 points, most recently Wednesday night’s 86-66 victory at Georgia. The Wildcats have won eight of nine and will be well-rested in coming off a mid-week bye after Saturday’s 74-71 home defeat of 25th-ranked Tennessee, a game UK trailed by 17 only to rally for a sweep of its season series against the Vols. … Kentucky has won 11 of the previous 13 meetings, with a 6-0 record in Gainesville over that stretch. … Gators coach Todd Golden is 1-4 against the Cats, including 0-2 at home. Kentucky, in fact, is the only team in the SEC that has Golden has not beaten at the O’Dome. 

Tale of the Tape

Florida	Statistics	Kentucky
86.3	Scoring	81.6
.470	Field-goal percentage	.472
.292	3-point percentage	.345
404	Scoring defense	71.3
.404	Field-goal percentage defense	.416
.324	3-point percentage defense	.309
5th	KenPom.com overall ranking	27th
14th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	39th
5th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	34th
57th	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	182nd
7th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	27th
4th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	15th

The Breakdown 

About the Gators: They’re back at home for the first time in 13 days, with the last O’Dome appearance the 100-77 blowout of 23rd-ranked Alabama, which marked the second win of the current four-game streak during which the Gators have defended opponents at an aggregate 33.7% overall and 29.1 from the 3-point line. … UF’s most lopsided win at Georgia since 2000 came about through 51% shooting from the floor and by hitting their season’s SEC-high of 10 from the 3-point line on 26 attempts (38.5%). The Gators won by 20 despite the Bulldogs staying close on the glass (42-35, including 13-9 on the offensive end), where UF ranks No. 1 in the nation in rebounding margin at plus-15.2. … Speaking of rebounds, center Rueben Chinyelu, the SEC leader in the category, grabbed 20 against Georgia to become just the third player in program history to reach 20 in a league game. Over the last three games, Chinyelu has averaged 17.7 boards and is furthering his cause for SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He’s now the nation’s No. 1 defensive rebounder (31.8%) and No. 6 offensive rebounder (18.2). … Guard Xaivian Lee had an elite floor game at Athens, finishing with 18 points, seven assists, no turnovers and three steals in 32 minutes. Backcourt mate Boogie Fland added 15 points. The two combined to go 14-for-27 from the floor overall, including 10 of 12 in the 2-point area. As for the 3-point area, Lee equaled his SEC season high with three makes, while Fland snapped a stretch of 18 consecutive misses, spanning eight games, when threw in a late-shot clock 3 in the second half. In conference play, Lee is hitting 25.8 from the arc and Fland 13.5. They’re 61.0 and and 57.0, respectively, from the 2-point area. … Forward and scoring leader Thomas Haugh didn’t hit a field goal through the first 23 minutes, yet the Gators won going away, which says something about their depth. … Forward Alex Condon had 10 points, five rebounds and three steals, but also a career-high seven turnovers at Georgia. His defense remained elite throughout his mistakes. … Backup guard Urban Klavzar (9.8 ppg) is up to 41.7% from the 3-point line in conference play, which has helped the Gators inch to 30.6 collectively. The shooting of backup guard Isaiah Brown (5.4 ppg) hasn’t hurt, either. Brown scored 12 points and drained a career-best three 3s in 16 high-end minutes against the Bulldogs and is now shooting 51% overall and 8-for-19 from the arc (42.1%) in league play. … Reserve center Micah Handlogten (4.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) actually has a better offensive rebounding percentage (21.6) than Chinyelu, but doesn’t have the minutes (14.7 per) to qualify for the stat.

About the Wildcats: It’s their second season under favorite son and 1996 NCAA champion Mark Pope, who is 41-19 overall, 18-11 in conference play and a trip to Sweet 16 since returning to his alma mater. Pope is beloved for the role he played on Rick Pitino’s championship team (one of the greatest in college basketball history), but he took five-alarm heat earlier in the season following losses to Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina and Gonzaga (by 35). Wins over neighboring Indiana and an upset of Pitino’s St. John’s team in New York quelled the masses, but only temporarily. The Wildcats opened SEC play with a loss at Alabama and another at home against Missouri, but have righted the ship by going 8-1 since. Along the way, they got drilled by 25 at Vanderbilt, but turned around four days later and upset Arkansas on the road in a grudge match against former Coach John Calipari. … UK lost freshman guard Jaland Lowe, the Pittsburgh transfer, to a season-ending knee injury in January and has been without 6-10 forward Jayden Quaintance, an Arizona State transfer, for about the same amount of time with a knee injury. … The game will mark the O’Dome return of former UF point guard Denzel Aberdeen, who played a pivotal role as fourth guard in leading the Gators to the NCAA title, then opted for a big portal pay day in the offseason. Aberdeen was key in helping steady the Cats during their early SEC struggles and is shooting 37.5% from the arc. … … Guard Otega Oweh was voted SEC Preseason Player of the Year at the league’s media days and is starting to live up to the accolades. Oweh is three-level scorer who excels in attack mode, is averaging 22.3 points over the last five games and is 10th in the SEC in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.9). … Center Malachi Moreno, the lone 2025 McDonald’s All American on the team, is at 60% from the floor on the season. He’ll get arguably his biggest test of the season vs. Chinyelu and company. … Guard Collin Chander leads the team with 45 makes from 3 at nearly 41%. … Forward Andrija Jelavic has started the last eight games, replacing Mouhamed Dioubate (8.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), the Alabama transfer, in the first unit. The two basically rotate minutes in the post alongside Moreno. Dioubate doesn’t shoot 3s, but is active on offensive glass. Jelavic is at 30% from 3. 

 

Numbers of Note 

* plus-2.85 — Combined assist-to-turnover ratio for Fland and Lee, who rank second (3.06) and fourth (2.60), respectfully, in SEC play. During the Gators’ current four-game winning streak, Lee has 21 assists and only two turnovers. 

* 5 — Players in UF history to grab at least 20 rebounds in a game twice during their careers, a club Chinyelu joined with his effort at Georgia. He’s actually in a more exclusive club than that, as Chinyelu became the first Gator since Chip Williams in 1973 (and one of just four all time) to clear at least 20 boards in two SEC games. 

* 2018 — The last year Florida defeated Kentucky at home. Junior guard Jalen Hudson led the way with 22 points, followed by 18 from grad forward Egor Koulechov, but that March 3 afternoon belonged to point guard Chris Chiozza, who with a transition shovel to Keith Stone and ensuing 3-point first-half basket became the all-time assists lead in UF history; on his “Senior Day” and final O’Dome appearance, no less. The Gators won 80-67. They’re 0-6 against the Wildcats at home since. 

 

Bottom Line

UF’s first home Saturday game since the loss to Auburn three weeks ago is also UK’s first trip to the O’Dome in two years. What an environment it should be. And what an opportunity for the Gators to put some distance between themselves and the Wildcats, while protecting the home floor. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.