Vicky Graff Photo
He missed his first two shots and still had not scored with under two minutes left in the first half. However, Kentucky point guard Lamont Butler doesn’t need long to make his presence felt in a big way.
Kentucky was leading 45-40 when Butler stole the ball from Florida point guard Walter Clayton near midcourt, raced to the UK basket, scored, and was fouled.
“Not only was the steal great because he does such a great job sizing up the ball handler but then he uses his body to get the foul on Clayton,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said.
That came with 1 minute and 35 seconds left in the half and put UK on top 48-40.
Next, he forced Clayton to double dribble and 20 seconds later hit an 18-footer for a 50-40 lead.
“Lamont Butler is such a good basketball player and has really improved on the offensive end from last year to this year,” Bilas added after the shot.
Wait. He wasn’t finished.
With UK leading 50-42 and Florida holding for the last shot of the half, he not only knocked the ball loose from Clayton but hit another driving layup three seconds before halftime for a 52-42 lead in what turned out to be a 106-100 UK win to start Southeastern Conference play.
Butler had seven points in about 1 1/2 minutes to end the half and kept it going in the second half when he scored 12 more points to finish with 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 at the foul line, a career-high eight assists, three steals, two rebounds and only two turners in 32 1/2 minutes of play.
Butler hit a 3-pointer with 3:49 to play after inbounding the ball and getting loose in the corner as the shot clock was expiring for a 92-87 lead. On Florida’s next possession, he out-hustled everyone for a defensive rebound, got fouled, and made two free throws for a 94-87 lead with 3:25 left.
“Butler has just been in total control of what he’s doing,” Bilas said.
Butler, who has had at least five assists in five of the last six games, knew Florida had “big-time guards” he had to defend — and he was right. Clayton had 33 points (6-for-12 from 3) and five assists while Alijah Martin had 26 points (5-for-12 from 3).
“They score at a high rate, and they did that tonight. I just try to go out there and try to make it difficult and impossible when I was out there,” Butler said. “It was tough. They played a lot of ball screens, so I just tried to do my best.
“It was tough to guard them. You cannot really focus on one guy. I think that is going to help us throughout the year.”
Butler also praised BBN for its support despite the 11 a.m. starting time.
“It was a great effort from everyone. I try to do my part. At the end of the game, it was just a winning mentality,” he said.
