At the Buzzer: No. 12 Kentucky 65, Florida 59
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
No. 12 KENTUCKY 65, FLORIDA 59
No. 12 KENTUCKY 65, FLORIDA 59
WHAT HAPPENED: Sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley scored a career-high 26 points, 22 of them after halftime, including barrage of back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers that broke a close game open in the second half Saturday night and sent the 12th-ranked Wildcats to a Southeastern Conference victory over the Gators at Rupp Arena. Florida had a seven-point second-half lead, but went into a 1-for-11 shooting funk about the same time Kentucky turned it up for the home crowd and went on one of those "Rupp Runs" that tend to turn a game. Quickley hit eight of his 17 shots, four of his six 3-point attempts and all six of his free throws to help his team shooting 48 percent after intermission. Freshman guard Tyrese Maxey had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The Gators were led by 19 points and nine rebounds from sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson and grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr.'s 18 points and six rebounds, which he countered with five turnovers. Florida held a three-point lead inside 14 minutes to go in the game when Quickley went nuts, bombing trio of 3s on consecutive possessions to drop the Gators into a six-point hole. While UF was missing a fifth consecutive shot and on its way to turning the ball over 16 times, the margin went to eight. The Gators, though, still managed to make things interesting late, forcing three Wildcat turnovers in the final two minutes and scoring off each to make it a two-point game, 61-59, with 17.4 seconds left. UK, though, got a pair of free throws each from Quickley and Maxey to ice a sixth straight victory on a night the team scored a season-low number of points.
WHAT IT MEANS: In losing for 53rd time in 63 trips to Lexington, the Gators dropped into fourth place in the SEC standings, where they'll sit by themselves the next couple days after Saturday wins by Auburn and LSU kept those two teams in second place, one game behind front-running Kentucky. UF is a game up on fifth place-running South Carolina (which lost to LSU), Texas A&M (which defeated Mississippi State) and Mississippi State.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Quickley showed why he's turned into UK's top bucket-getter, going for double figures for a 15th straight game. He's averaged 20.6 points over the previous seven games.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Sophomore shooting guard Noah Locke came into the game with at least one 3-pointer in 24 consecutive games and making 52 percent from 3 in league play. Not only was that streak snapped, Locke had his first scoreless game of the season after going 0-for-5 from the floor.
UP NEXT: The season-ending paddle wheel continues, with Florida (17-10, 9-5) back home Wednesday night to face LSU (19-8, 10-4) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballTodd Golden and Thomas Haugh Postgame Press Conference 11-3-25
Monday, November 03
Coach Golden on Florida's Depth
Thursday, October 30
Gator Boys | A New Journey Begins
Thursday, October 30
Boogie Fland Media Availability 10-30-25
Thursday, October 30
