Tre Mitchell had 10 rebounds in a win at Florida earlier this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky assistant Chuck Martin knows Florida has won four of its last six games and is coming off home wins over Mississippi State and Georgia going into tonight’s game at Kentucky.
The Wildcats won 87-85 at Florida on Jan. 6 to open Southeastern Conference play but had to rally in the final three minutes to come from behind to win.
“They’re No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding. They have great size and do a great job of positioning themselves on the low block,” Martin said about Florida.
Florida 7-1 center Micah Handlogten scored 23 points and had 17 rebounds against Georgia. Guards Zyon Pullin (20 points), Will Richard (18) and Walter Clayton (18) combined for 56 points. Florida shot 54.9 percent from the field for the game.
Florida outrebounded Georgia 46-25 and had a 21-point lead before Georgia rallied to force overtime. In the extra session, Florida scored 17 points to win.
Handlogten, a Marshall transfer, had 12 rebounds in the first game against UK to help Florida win the rebounding battle 43-40. Clayton and Pullin each scored 23 points while. Riley Kugel came off the bench to score 15 points.
Antonio Reeves led Kentucky with 19 points while Tre Mitchell pulled off 10 rebounds.
“When you see them for the second time, obviously we’ve gotten better and they’ve gotten better,” Martin said.
Kentucky hopes it is better defensively than it was the first time it faced Florida. The Cats are up to 70th in Kenpom’s adjusted defensive efficiency going into tonight’s game.
“We didn’t play great offensively (at Arkansas), but it was good to see us defensively come together, especially in the second half. There were signs of our defense really coming along. It was a great example of what we can be defensively,” Martin said Tuesday.
2 Responses
I think the starting 5 of Dillingham Sheppard Reeves Mitchell and Big O should be utilized more. Have Wagner come in for whoever needs a breather out of the 3 guards and Edward’s as the 7th man Big Z as the 8th man and Bradshaw followed by Burks and Thiero. Burks was a spark before the 7 footers got back into the action. When we are in a slump put Burks in for 8-10 mins a game.
Poor 3 point defense, mediocre free throw shooting, too many turnovers, and a hot Gator team = overtime loss. This was a game we should have won, but the Gators said the same thing when we won in Gainsville. Saturday’s game is a must win, but Green owns Calipari.