Something from Everyone Adds up for Gators
Sunday, February 5, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
Florida knocked off No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday with a total team effort from start to finish.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kentucky coach John Calipari was running out of answers to the stream of questions about his team late Saturday night when he abruptly announced, "I'm tired of talking," and exited the room.
Calipari wasn't angry or nasty, simply exasperated.
After all, his No. 8-ranked Wildcats had just been whipped by the No. 24 Gators, 88-66, UF's first win over Kentucky since the 2014 SEC Tournament championship game. Florida led from start-to-finish with a total team effort against the latest Kentucky Dream Team filled with future NBA lottery picks.
Gators coach Mike White doesn't have as talented a roster as Calipari, but then again, who does? In his biggest win in two seasons at Florida, White used 10 players and every one of them scored and contributed in other ways, let by senior guard Kasey Hill's 21 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Hill scored inside, outside, on a dunk and beyond the arc.
"Kasey Hill is not known as a jump shooter,'' Calipari said. "He makes five straight shots."
Hill aswered a few minutes later.
"Those are the shots I worked on all summer," he said. "I'm going to keep working on them."
Hill led Florida's charge past the Wildcats at sold-out Exactech Arena on Saturday night, but he was not alone. He had plenty of backup.
When Hill was sidelined in the first half due to two fouls, reserve guard Chris Chiozza came off the bench and finished with two points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
When center John Egbunu had to sit at times with foul trouble, Kevarrius Hayes chipped in with five points, five rebounds and three blocks before he fouled out late in the game.
When Kentucky closed to within 37-33 on DeAaron Fox's three-point play early in the second half, Canyon Barry answered with five consecutive points.
When Hill wasn't hitting shots, teammates Devin Robinson (5 of 7 overall, 3 of 4 from 3-point range, 16 points) and KeVaughn Allen (12 points) picked up the slack.
The Gators got production from everyone, whether it was timely 3-pointers from Eric Hester and Justin Leon, Egbunu's inside presence (8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block), or Schuyler Rimmer's hustle late in the first half when Egbunu and Hayes were both on the bench in foul trouble.
"Everybody just came in with the right mindset,'' Chiozza said. "We wasn't focused on individuals or ourselves. We wanted to come out and contribute any way we could and get a W and that's what we did."
"That's what type of team we have,'' Hill said. "Any guy can score and anybody can have a good night."
Florida led by as many as 13 points (30-17 on Hester's 3) in the first half and owned a 34-26 halftime lead. Kentucky freshman sensation Malik Monk, the SEC's leading scorer at 22.4 points per game, was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes.
The Gators were the aggressors from the start, swarming defensively in the paint and on the perimeter. The Gators had five of their seven blocked shots in the first half and outrebounded Kentucky, 54-29.
Before he left the postgame press conference, Calipari summed Florida's performance up exactly the way it looked from courtside.
"They deserved to win,'' he said. "They wanted it more."
Florida erased any doubts about the outcome midway in the second half when Robinson ignited a 13-0 run with a 3-pointer. Over the next 3 minutes, 23 seconds, the Gators stretched a 62-52 lead to 75-52.
Game over.
Hill drew the biggest crowd in the postgame media scrum following one of his better performances. Robinson stood a few feet away.
"He's been a leader of this program for numerous years,'' Robinson said. "He kept the motor going. He kept the team going. I'm happy for him tonight."
On a four-game win streak and with every victory by a margin of 22 points or more, the Gators are flying high.
To stay that way, they could use everyone lending a helping hand like on Saturday in their most important victory to date.
"This is my third year here and I haven't beaten Kentucky yet, until tonight,'' Chiozza said. "I think that's a way a lot of guys felt except for Kasey. All of us came out and we were hungry."
