At the Buzzer: Kentucky 67, Florida 50
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
KENTUCKY 67, FLORIDA 50
WHAT HAPPENED: At Lexington, Ky., the frontcourt duo of forward Trey Lyles and center Karl-Anthony Towns combined to score 23 points, grab 15 rebounds and block three shots in leading the top-ranked and unbeaten Wildcats to victory over the Gators in the regular-season finale for both teams. UF, a 16-point underdog, hung around for the better part of the game until the Cats, midway through the second half and behind a 3-pointer from freshman guard Devin Booker, began taking out the lead. Booker's trey ignited a 9-2 run and fired up a packed but relatively subdued Rupp Arena crowd that was waiting for something to get excited about. Once UK's margin got to double-digits, the Cats coasted home. Florida got 15 points from sophomore point guard Kasey Hill, 12 points from junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith and was held to only 23 points after intermission on 9-for-22 shooting. The Gators didn't help themselves with 17 turnovers, either.
WHAT IT MEANS: Florida once again is under .500 and now will have the SEC Tournament (and whatever may lie beyond that) to try and avoid the program's first losing season since 1997-98. Meanwhile, it's one step closer to immortality for the Kentucky and its "Pursuit of Perfection." The Wildcats became the second team in Southeastern Conference history -- joining UF 2013-14 -- to go unbeaten in an 18-game league season, but also the first program from a major conference to complete a regular season undefeated. UK now has the SEC and NCAA tournaments to chase 1976 Indiana as the last team with a perfect college basketball season.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior guard Michael Frazier II returned to action, making his first appearance for the Gators since suffering a high-ankle sprain Feb. 7 against Kentucky. At the time, Frazier was playing some of his best basketball of the season. Clearly, he was nowhere 100 percent, but did hit the first 3-point shot he took and did not score after that. His mere presence early, though, helped space the defense and open gaps for penetration.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Wildcats blocked eight UF shots, which was slightly above their NCAA-leading average of 6.8 per game. OK, not so staggering, but UK's enormous size and post presence was not only a deterrent to driving Gators all game, but effectively in sending shots back.
UP NEXT: The Gators (15-16, 8-10) will wait for this afternoon's game between South Carolina and Tennessee (4 p.m. at Knoxville), plus tonight's game between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss (9 p.m. from Oxford, Miss.) to learn their seeding in Thursday's second round of the SEC Tournament at Nashville. If the Rebels and Volunteers win at home, UF will draw the No. 7 seed based. If either Vandy wins or Tennessee loses, the Gators will fall to the No. 8 or 9 spot and face Alabama. A win over the Crimson Tide would mean a date against top-seeded Kentucky in Friday's quarterfinals.
