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Kentucky at Florida: 2020-21 storylines for SEC matchup

By Trevor Sinodhinos

UK forward Isaiah Jackson talks to his teammates during the University of Kentucky basketball game against Notre Dame at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020.Kentucky Basketball Notre Dame
UK forward Isaiah Jackson talks to his teammates during the University of Kentucky basketball game against Notre Dame at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020.Kentucky Basketball Notre Dame /
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Mike White Florida Gators (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Mike White Florida Gators (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

14 SEC games were scheduled for this seventh week of NCAA Basketball. This Kentucky versus Florida game will provide a hint as to who will contend and who will have to be content.

Coming off of two different results Tuesday night the SEC rivals meet up in a game p of (current) top tier teams in the conference. Head Coach Mike White and the Florida Gators will be looking to improve their SEC record to 3-1 after a convincing 86-71 loss to the SEC leaders, and 3-0, Alabama Basketball.

The seemingly season-long learning process for Coach Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats have them looking to remain undefeated in SEC play while trying to extend their season-long winning streak to three games.

Florida Basketball is being led by their three-man backcourt that includes their top two scorers in Tre Mann (14.6 ppg) and Scottie Lewis (12.3). With an average of 81.7 points per game, the Florida Gators are the second-highest scoring team in SEC play. Although this average spans just three games, it is a vast improvement over the 73.2 points per game they averaged just a season ago.

For all their offensive success, the Gators are also allowing SEC opponents to average 79 points per game. A stat they will need to rectify, for once teams know how to score on you, it becomes a slippery slope.

Kentucky Basketball enters with leading scorers Brandon Boston (12.8) and Olivier Sarr (11.3) attempting 36 percent of the team’s field goals per game. For their efforts, the Wildcats have, over their two games, the seventh-best scoring offense in the SEC at 77.5 points per game.  Although they do not have one of the better offenses in the SEC, it is better than their 74.1 average last season that placed them sixth.

A thought that seemed improbable, if not impossible when Kentucky was sporting a 1-6 record over the holidays, they are attempting to defend their SEC Regular Season Championship that they won by three games over Auburn last season. Not only did the Wildcats win the SEC last season, but they were also six wins better than 2020-21 trendy pick Tennessee Volunteers.

There will facet’s to Saturday’s game that range from individual stars to the team concept, a contrast between a “run’n’gun” style and a set half-court offense. As the game progresses the plot will thicken and a handful of storylines will be played out.

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