Kentucky vs Florida....A Preview

Lwcat
Administrator

Kentucky vs Florida….2/7/12 Tuesday 7PMEST/6PMCST (ESPN)
Kentucky leads the series 90-33

Location: Gainsville
Enrollment: 52,271
Arena: 12,000

Florida

Head Coach: Billy Donovan

Career Record: 395-167 (70.3%) 17 seasons
At Florida: 360-147 (71.0%) 15 seasons

2010-11 Record: 29-8
2010-11 SEC Record: 13-3
2010-11 Postseason: 3-1 (Lost in NCAA Elite 8)

2011-12 Record: 19-4
2011-12 SEC Record: 7-1

Florida 99 Jackson St. 59
Ohio St. 81 Florida 74
Florida 91 North Florida 55
Florida 78 Wright St. 65
Florida 96 Stetson 70
Syracuse 72 Florida 68
Florida 78 Arizona 72 (OT)
Florida 90 Rider 69
Florida 84 Texas A&M 64
Florida 82 Mississippi Valley St. 54
Florida 82 Florida St. 64
Rutgers 85 Florida 83 (OT)
Florida 90 Yale 70
Florida 79 UAB 61
Tennessee 67 Florida 56
Florida 70 Georgia 48
Florida 79 South Carolina 65
Florida 76 LSU 64
Florida 64 Ole Miss 60
Florida 69 Mississippi St. 57
Florida 74 South Carolina 66
Florida 73 Vanderbilt 65

Florida Stats

PPG-80.1
FG%-47.2%
3 PT%-40.2% (10.5 PG)
FT%-68.4%
RPG-36.6 (+3.0)
APG-16.3
TO’s-11.0
SPG-7.2
BPG-3.5

UK Stats

PPG-78.2
FG%-48.6%
3 PT%-36.9% (5.5 PG)
FT%-71.6%
RPG-39.9% (+7.8)
APG-13.3
TO’s-12.1
SPG-6.7
BPG-9.4

Probable Starting Lineup

Patric Young-F/C 6’9” Soph……………………….10.7 PPG
Erik Murphy-C 6’10” Jr…………………………….10.2 PPG
Kenny Boynton-G 6’2” Jr…………………………..17.6 PPG
Bradley Beal-G 6’3” Fr……………………………..14.3 PPG
Erving Walker-G 5’8” Sr……………………………12.6 PPG

Other Key Players

Will Yeguete-F 6’7” Soph………………………….4.7 PPG
Mike Rosario-G 6’3” Jr…………………………….8.2 PPG

The Florida Gators arrive in Lexington with a solid 19-4 record overall and 7-1 in the SEC. The Gators have not lost at home all season and two of their 4 losses were to top 5 ranked teams….losing to Ohio St. and Syracuse. Make no mistake, this is a very talented Gator team that shoots the ball very well…..especially from the perimeter….where they are hitting 40.2%. In fact, there is no question that Florida is a perimeter oriented team as they average 26 long range shots PG and averages nearly 11 made 3 point shots PG. The Gators are hard to guard from the perimeter because they have several players who shoot very well from long range….Murphy shoots 46.1%…..Boynton shoots 43.8%…..Walker shoots 39.3%…..Rosario, transfer from Rutgers, shoots 39.0%……and Beal hits 34.5%.

Florida is led in scoring by their three very talented guards….Boynton….Beal….and Walker. However, the Gators also get good scoring from their two starting big men with Young and Murphy averaging in double figures. Patric Young, a 6’9” very athletic sophomore, is a force in the paint and leads in rebounds….but, he gets help from several Gators on the boards….and surprisingly, 6’3” Bradley Beal is a terrific rebounder.
Walker leads in team assists with 118 or 5.1 PG.

The Gators arrive in Lexington after an important win over Vandy and have won 9 out of their last 10 games with only a bad loss to Tennessee at Knoxville.

UK has taken a huge step forward in their last 3 games in their overall play….both offensively and defensively….with very impressive wins over LSU, Tennessee and South Carolina. Unquestionably, Teague has significantly improved his running of the Cats offense by finding open players and shooting less….plus Teague is making less TO’s with better decision making. Also, importantly, Terrence Jones has taken his overall player to a much higher level….both offensively and defensively.

UK’s defense has been solid through most of the year, but has now taken their defense to a higher level. However, Florida will present a challenge to the Cat’s perimeter defense because the Gators have so many good perimeter shooters. The Gators will be among the most talented teams that UK has faced all season.

I see UK’s height and length presenting problems for Florida’s small guards in finding open shots….and Davis and Jones controlling the paint….to give the Cats an important advantage over Florida. Still, this should be a very competitive game, but I see UK prevailing over the Gators by 8 points. GO CATS!