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Kentucky Wildcats: 3 Thoughts on Win Against Florida

By Courtney Smith

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Young Wildcats know how to face adversity

Some would say that Kentucky ran into a brick wall in the swamp against Florida. The Gators smacked the Wildcats in the mouth early, building an early 18-9 lead in front of their home crowd. On Twitter and other social media outlets, Big Blue Nation was worried after one half. Remember, coach John Calipari said all season long that his team needs to be tested each and every night and in the not-so-tough Southeastern Conference. Kentucky has been tested by the top and bottom tier of teams and Saturday night was no different.

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Florida went into halftime up 30-28 following Chris Chiozza‘s drive to the lane. What helped the Gators out a lot was the movement of the basketball and their poise to get into the lane. With the speed of Kasey Hill and Chiozza, it wasn’t hard to do so, but the woes from the free throw line blew their chances of the potential upset. Florida went 7-of-14 from the line. Now, shooting 50 percent is not bad but it’s not good either.

The Wildcats (23-0, 10-0 SEC) went 20-for-21 from the line and weren’t scared of the atmosphere they had to play in. The young Kentucky squad stayed cool and played for the entire 40 minutes. I think Willie Cauley-Stein‘s one-handed gliding dunk sparked the team’s energy. Aaron Harrison made shots when his team needed one. His brother, Andrew Harrison, finished with one point. Both brothers switched roles Saturday night.

Aaron became the hero while Andrew couldn’t muster any rhythm. In the Wildcats’ win over the Georgia Bulldogs, Andrew had a team-high 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Aaron added only one point. But neither brother cares for stats, they just want to win and once again, Kentucky walks off the court with another key victory.

Florida started hot but couldn’t stay hot

Florida (12-11, 5-5 SEC) held an 18-9 early in the first half, but went ice cold the rest of the way, finishing the first half 11-of-25 from the field, which totals up to 44 percent. One of the Gators best scorers, Michael Frazier III hurt his right ankle and was limited to only six minutes in the second half. Frazier finished the night with 10 points. Dorian Finney-Smith had to carry Florida on his back but his 16-point effort wasn’t enough.

Hill added 12 and Eli Carter had 11 but combined to shoot 10-of-23 from the field. After losing Scottie Wilbekin and Patric Young to last year’s NBA Draft, the Gators are thin and I mean thin. If Frazier or Finney-Smith can’t make a spark on offense, you can turn the lights out on Florida.

Chiozza and Hill will need a full off-season to jell together and coach Billy Donovan will need to rebuild his frontcourt that’s lacking the killer instinct that was so intact for the last two seasons and the two years the Gators won the national title.

Give the ball to Karl Anthony-Towns/Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker, or Aaron Harrison

As you saw in Saturday’s SEC match-up, there’s no stopping Karl Anthony-Towns. When he’s on the low block with his back to the rim, he’s unstoppable, finishing the game with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds. He’s starting to live up to being one of the best big men in college basketball. Kentucky will definitely need his dominance and physicality Tuesday night against LSU team that’s led by Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin.

Cauley-Stein hasn’t had to do much this season since the emergence of Towns, but he makes big plays when Calipari calls his jersey number. He finished with 13 points and five rebounds, including a 5-for-5 night from the free throw line. His Blake Griffin-like dunk basically summed up what type of night he was having against Florida.

When Devin Booker and Aaron Harrison takes a shot from the perimeter, best believe it’s going to fall. These two studs take great looks at the basket. If Booker wouldn’t have left the game with an unspecified injury, he would have probably ended up with 20 points, but his 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting was more than enough for the undefeated Wildcats. As for Aaron Harrison, he let it rip every time he had the chance to do so. He simple had the shooter’s touch and if things keep going this way, I can’t tell you who’s going to beat Kentucky come March.

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