Kentucky Basketball: 3 takeaways from stunning win at Florida

2. Ranking among the worst in shooting percentages, the Wildcats put on a display at Florida

Among Kentucky’s many issues to begin the season, it has been no mystery that their offense has been incredibly lackluster.  In their stretch of six-straight losses, the most the Wildcats scored was 64 in their loss to Richmond – and in that six-game span, the Wildcats shot worse than 40% from the floor on four occasions.

But in their three most recent outings – all of which wins – Kentucky has rediscovered their shooting stroke.  In the double-overtime win at Mississippi State, the Wildcats shot 41.6% from the floor with a blistering 52.4% clip from beyond the arc – and followed that up with a 41.8% FG and 38.5% 3PT performance against Vanderbilt.

Entering the game against Florida, the Wildcats ranked among the nation’s worst in both 2P% and 3P%, going 46.2% (292nd) inside the arc and 29.9% (287th) outside.  Additionally, Kentucky also struggled mightily from the charity stripe, shooting a 234th-best 67.6% on freebies.

The Wildcats struggled to improve on those marks against Mississippi State, but surpassed them against Vanderbilt – and proceeded to demolish those percentages at Florida.  For the game, Kentucky shot a blistering 59.0% (23-39) on two-pointers as well as 46.2% (6-13) on long-range bombs.  They were nearly perfect from the line, draining 12 of 13 free-throws.

One of the most noteworthy statistics – and accomplishments for Kentucky – in this game was their 2P%.  Although Florida struggles to defend outside shots – they rank 291st in 3P% defense with 36.6% – they are a terror inside, holding teams to just 42.7% on two-pointers – the 28th-highest mark in Div. I.  However, the Wildcats had zero issues scoring inside – and, contrarily, despite Florida shooting an 80th-best 54.3% on inside shots, the Wildcats managed to hold the Gators to a 33.3% (12-36) clip.