Florida Gators
Kentucky
Gator Men's Basketball Lose Third Straight
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 | Men's Basketball
It was the Gators' second straight two-point loss. UF has now lost three straight games for the first time since 1998.
The Gators (15-4, 4-3 SEC) led at the half 31-30, but fell behind 47-39 early in the second half. Orien Greene fueled an 8-0 run with a three-pointer as the Gators tied the game at 47-47. Florida was behind 55-53 when James White knocked down a trey to give the Gators a 56-55 lead with 6:26 to play. Nelson followed up with another three for a 59-55 advantage.
But the Gators couldn't hold the lead as Prince hit a free throw and Bogans hit a three-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead for good, 67-63, with 1:22 to go. Bogans finished with 20 points. Prince had 19.
Gator coach Billy Donovan lamented the mistakes his team continues to make.
"We a lot of times shoot ourselves in the foot," Donovan said. "We make so many mistakes out there because of youthfulness and inexperience and over time, it catches up to us a little bit."
Besides their difficulty in stopping Prince and Bogans, the Gators had trouble on the boards. Kentucky (14-5, 4-3 SEC) outrebounded Florida 45-31 with 20 of the rebounds coming on the offensive end, giving the Wildcats second and third scoring opportunities.
But Donovan did not fault his team's effort.
"I thought we competed. I thought when Kentucky got up by seven I thought our kids kept battling. I felt like we really got back in it."
Donovan wasn't upset with Brett Nelson's miss at the end, considering the Gators had no time outs left.
"I give him credit for stepping up and trying to make a play," Donovan said. "It was right on line, and I thought it had a great chance of going in."
Nelson started off hot making four of his first five shots all from beyond the three-point arc, but he cooled off and was just one for his last 11 from the field. Nelson finished with 15 points to lead the Gators in scoring. Udonis Haslem scored 12 second half points to give him 14 for the game. He also had eight rebounds. Greene finished with 13 points.
The loss drops Florida into a second place tie with Kentucky in the SEC East. Both the Gators and the Wildcats are 4-3 in the SEC and are one game behind East-leading Georgia.
Florida will host Mississippi State Saturday, Feb. 2 at the O'Connell Center. Tip off is set for 5 p.m. ET.
