Florida Gators

What Happened

Florida junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers, including one to force overtime and another to give his team the lead for good Wednesday night, as the Gators came from behind late to upset 10th-ranked Kentucky at sold-out Rupp Arena for just their 12th road win in the series in program history. The victory was the fourth straight for the Florida, but also gave Coach Todd Golden his first, true signature road victory and season's first Quadrant 1 win, as counted by the NCAA Evaluation Tool. UF snapped a five-game losing skid in the series and won for just the 12th time in 67 all-time road games in the series. Kentucky had won 11 of the previous 12 meetings, dating to the 2019 season. Grad-transfer point guard Zyon Pullin scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished seven assists with just two turnovers over 41 minutes and grad-transfer forward Tyrese Samuel had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Clayton finished seven of 14 from the floor, with all but one of his attempts coming from deep. He also hit two free throws with 16 seconds remaining in the extra period to push his team in front by seven. UF never led by more than two -- the game featured 29 lead changes and 15 ties -- until the overtime and actually trailed by four with less than 20 seconds to play in regulation before staging a potentially season-making comeback. UK 7-foot center Ugonna Onyenso (13 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocks) converted a missed, late-shot 3-pointer into a stick back that put the Wildcats ahead 83-79 with 40 seconds to go. Samuel did the same with a miss at UF's end with 15.7 seconds remaining. Florida fouled guard Rob Dillingham (20 points), putting him at the line with 13.5 seconds remaining. Dillingham hit the first, but bounced the second, with the Gators grabbing the rebound. In the UF halfcourt, and with UK choosing not to foul, Pullin drove the paint and found Clayton on the left wing. He head-faked Reed Sheppard and banged the game-tying 3-ball with three seconds left. In the overtime, UK led 87-86 with 1:40 to go when Clayton ripped his seventh 3 for a lead the Gators never gave back. Florida shot 41 percent for the game, but went 12-for-28 from the 3-point line (43 percent). The Gators edged the Cats on the glass 50-48 and 17-15 on the offensive end. Kentucky shot 45 percent, 10 of 26 from distance (38.5 percent). Both teams only turned it over nine teams. A big edge for UF was at the free-throw line, where the Gators went 18-for-22, including eight of nine in the OT,  compared to 11 of 17 for the Cats. UF is now shooting 79.6 percent from the line in SEC play. Kentucky was led by Sheppard, the fabulous freshman who scored 24 points and played all 45 minutes in just his second start. Fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves had 19 points. The Gators improved to 3-0 in overtime this season, adding to the wins over Georgia and Michigan.   

What it Means

The biggest win of Golden's two seasons will be a gold-star Quadrant 1 victory on their postseason resume. It's just the third Q1 win in 22 tries under Golden (first of seven in '23-24), but it's a significant one at this juncture of the season, as it keeps the UF winning streak going, moves the Gators up into a tie for fifth place in the SEC standings and provides momentum heading as the league slate reaches the halfway mark this weekend. 
 

In the Spotlight

Clayton came into the game shooting 34.9 percent from the 3-point line, which was below his career average of 40.3. He improved on that number Wednesday at 53.8 for the game. And every one of his shots were huge because of the close-knit nature of the game. 
 

Staggering Statistic

The win was UF's first against a Top 10 opponent on the road since beating No. 7 Mississippi State on Jan. 7, 2003. 
 

Up Next

Florida (15-6, 5-3) will be back on the road Saturday to face Texas A&M (12-8, 3-4), which will be coming off a mid-week bye after losing at home to Ole Miss 71-68 last weekend. The Aggies have beaten the Gators four straight by a combined eight points, with each game coming down to the final possession. Kentucky (15-5, 5-3) gets No. 5 Tennessee at home Saturday.