No. 14 Florida, No. 25 Kentucky clash in key SEC matchup
Kentucky basketball is back where it believes it belongs.
The Wildcats, who went 9-6 to open the season, resurfaced in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday at No. 25 after recent strong play, making their Saturday matchup at No. 14 Florida in Gainesville one between ranked teams.
All season long as his group fell short in losses to ranked programs Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, Gonzaga and Alabama, Kentucky coach Mark Pope repeated the same mantra: "We'll fix it."
Apparently, he and his staff have done just that.
In the Southeastern Conference, Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC) sits tied for second with No. 21 Arkansas, both chasing the first-place Gators (18-6, 9-2), who have won four straight after a 76-67 home loss against Auburn three weeks ago.
Two victories over border rival Tennessee were season-defining for the Wildcats, who are back in the Top 25 for the first time since early December.
Kentucky trailed by 17 in Knoxville but rallied to an 80-78 victory on Jan. 17. Last Saturday at Lexington, Ky., the Wildcats came back from down 14 to win 74-71. In the latter matchup with the Volunteers, the school honored the national champion 1996 Wildcats that Pope captained.
Pope said there are resemblances on his current squad to players who led Kentucky to that title 30 years ago over Syracuse: leading scorer Otega Oweh (17.1 points per game) to reliable Antoine Walker, and Collin Chandler to big-shot specialist Jeff Sheppard.
"There's something about (Collin) that is like, 'Let me go take the moment,'" said Pope of Chandler, who scores 9.4 points and shoots 40.9% from 3-point range. "You know, we're in a much different place than we were a month ago when we were at LSU (when) we're scratching and clawing to try and come back and win that game.
"And with everything on the line, we got to make a really, really, difficult, high-pressure, decision-making pass ... (and) Collin Chandler runs back, 'I'll make the pass, I got it.' There's something special about that."
The Gators carried their hot form into Athens, Ga., and walloped Georgia 86-66 on Wednesday night, racing out to a 17-point lead over 12 minutes in against former Florida head coach Mike White.
The romp was just the most recent in a 9-1 run for Florida, with eight of those victories coming by double figures.
Coach Todd Golden said his guards have stepped up, primarily Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland.
Lee exceeded his average of 11 points with a team-high 18 against Georgia, while Fland (11.4 ppg) scored 15.
"Credit to X," Golden said. "Eighteen and seven (assists) without a turnover. Just a beautiful floor game. And Boog stepped up and got us going. I thought early he was really good in transition and then had some really tough finishes late."
Thomas Haugh leads the Gators with 17.5 ppg, while Alex Condon contributed 13.3 ppg and 7.9 rebounds per game. Rueben Chinyelu averages a double-double of 11.8 points and 11.8 boards.
Florida has lost 11 of 13 against the Wildcats since the 2018-19 campaign.
When previewing Saturday's ranked tilt, Golden noted the visitors' lack of a midweek game.
"I think it's going to be what you would expect," he said. "They're off. They're going to be sitting on us, but it's all good."