This Time Comeback Falls Short at Florida

Florida started the game doing to Kentucky what it has been doing to other Southeastern Conference opponents recently.

Georgia missed 20 of 25 shots to open its game with Florida and Texas A&M  missed 26 of its first 27 shots. Kentucky was not that bad but did miss six of its first nine shots Saturday at Florida and fell behind 32-17 with 9 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first half. The Gators also scored 16 points off UK turnovers in that span.

However, the Cats did not wilt as other SEC teams have been doing. Even though UK lost 92-83, Kentucky cut the lead to two points on a Malachi Moreno goal early in the second half, trailed by five points at 64-59 with 13 minutes to play after a 3-pointer by Jasper Johnson and cut it to five points again with 36.8 seconds to play on a Collin Chandler 3-pointer.

“The guys are pretty disappointed. Every game is huge at this point,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said on the UK Radio Network. “We know Florida played really well and is a really good team but we feel we can play so much better and that is frustrating for us.”

Florida leads the SEC at 10-2 while Kentucky is now 8-4. A win would have left UK tied with Florida for the conference lead at 9-3.

“One of the best things about a game like this is it gives the coaching staff a lot of teaching opportunities. After a game like this you go home and say we could have won this game,” said UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens. “We lost it the first seven or eight minutes.

“We have already figured out this team has no quit in them. But when you have to overcome a deficit against a really good team it makes your work a lot more difficult.”

The win was Florida’s fifth straight and its 10th in the last 11 games,

Kentucky was outrebounded 45-37 but Florida came into the game leading the nation in rebounding margin at plus 14.8. Kentucky did have 13 offensive rebounds, including four by Andrij Jelavic, that led to 10 second chance points. The Cats also had 36 points in the paint — the same number as Florida — against perhaps the nation’s best front court.

Florida coach Todd Golden was pleased the Gators outebounded Kentucky by 12 in the game’s final 23 minutes.

“If you look at their last five or so matchups they’ve been getting close to 30 percent of their misses back or more. They are playing much bigger than they were earlier. I think it’s kind of a result of that. Rebounding was a big part of the scout. It was a concern of ours to make sure we kept them off the glass,” Golden said.

“They got us early. They weren’t making shots. They were getting their second chances. We weren’t putting any pressure on the offensive glass. I think we were even at halftime on the glass, but I thought they won the boards. Our tenaciousness, our physicality showed up in the last 10 minutes of the game. I thought we dominated that way. We kind of refused to not get the ball. That has to be our calling card as we move forward.”

Denzel Aberdeen, who played three years at Florida, had 19 points but was only 8-for-21 from the field and 1-for-9 from 3 but did lead UK with four assists. Chandler was next with 18 points and was 5-for-7 from 3 and 6-for-10 overall — he also had three steals.

Otega Oweh didn’t have his best offensive game but still scored in double figures as he has every game this season with 13 points. However, he was only 4-for-14 for the field and 0-for-3. He now has over 1,000 points at UK in less than two seasons.

“He comes every game and competes. He loves to compete. He has been insanely consistent. Consistent in a way I have never coached a player. He is carrying a massive load and is built to do it,” Pope said.

Golden was glad Florida’s defense made Oweh and Aberdeen work for their points.

“A big part of our scout was to make it tough on obviously Otega and ‘Zel, and they went 12-for-35 combined from the field, one for nine from three. I thought we did a really good job of defending those guys,” Golden said. “They were trying to score, and we knew that, and so we wanted to keep two on the ball when they were getting downhill, kind of force them into those play-making decisions.

“And overall, it was really good for us. And the things that hurt us were other things. Like, I thought we did a really poor job on Chandler, letting him get some space. I thought we did a poor job on (Mo) Dioubate, letting him get left. So big-picture wise, I thought scouting-wise we did a decent job in the main parts of what we were trying to accomplish, but the auxiliary stuff really bothered us and it allowed Kentucky to stay in the game.”

Moreno scored 11 points and added a team-high 11 rebounds despite playing only 21 minutes because of foul problems. He got his fourth foul early in the second half.

“The fourth foul was a killer. Getting 11 and 11 in 20 minutes is really hard,” Pope said. “He managed his fourth foul really well. Since getting beat up at Vandy he has demonstrated a physical presence on the floor. I thought he was really effective tonight. Aside from the fouls, he was really good.”

Five Florida players scored in double figures. Guards Xaivian Lee and Urban Klavzar combined for 41 points, including nine 3’s. Lee, coming off an 18-point game at Georgia, went 7-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3 to score a Florida career-high 22 points. Klavzar came off the bench to score 14 of his SEC career-high 19 in the second half. He was 5-for-11 from 3.

“There were just breakdowns in defending those two. I am not sure how many times there was a screen and both guys went to the screener to leave those guys open,” Givens said. “Everybody knows Florida needs those guards to be good and those guys are learning the system. Those guys made big shots and that makes Florida even better.”

Junior forward Thomas Haugh had 17 points and eight rebounds. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu — the SEC’s leading rebounder — posted his 15th double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 boards while forward fAlex Condon 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“Their front line played exactly like what we expected,” Pope said.