Cats and Gators ‘Clicking at the Right Time’ Entering Rematch
Kentucky and Florida faced similar challenges in February. The day the Wildcats lost the last of four games in a row – Feb. 14 – the Gators lost their first of three straight.
The losing streaks brought crises for both UK and Florida, as well as bubble talk for two teams that have spent time in the top 10 this season.
The ways John Calipari and Mike White guided their teams through adversity, however, were much different.
“Like with my team, I had to just keep telling them, ‘There’s hope. We can do this. I’m not shaken, I’m not blinking. I’m not. We’re going to do this. You have to believe,’ ” Calipari said. “Different when you’ve got young kids. When you have a veteran team, go after them a little bit.”
That’s not to say Calipari was never hard on his team – because he was – but not how White was. Florida’s third-year head coach pointedly and publicly talked about how his team lacked the competitiveness of last year’s Florida squad, which reached the Elite Eight.
“If Mike knew these guys needed (him) to shake them up and question them this way, he didn’t do it personally, I imagine,” Calipari said. “He didn’t do it specifically. He said, ‘As a team, we just don’t have a competitive spirit.’ I didn’t read it so I don’t know, but he knew his team (and) what they needed.”
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| Kentucky at Florida | ||
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Sat., March 3 – 12 p.m. ET |
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TV: CBS |
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| UK | 2017-18 Team Stats | UF |
| 21-9 | Record | 19-11 |
| 10-7 | Conference Record | 10-7 |
| 77.2 | PPG | 76.1 |
| 70.9 | Opp PPG | 69.2 |
| .468 | FG% | .433 |
| .409 | Opp FG% | .428 |
| 39.3 | RPG | 35.4 |
| .348 | 3PT FG% | .373 |
| .293 | Opp 3PT FG% | .355 |
| .698 | FT% | .721 |
| 13.6 | APG | 12.9 |
| 5.8 | SPG | 7.0 |
| 5.1 | BPG | 4.8 |
Calipari and White were both right to take the approaches they did. As No. 23/25 UK (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) and Florida (19-11, 10-7 SEC) prepare to tangle in Gainesville, Florida, the Cats have won four in a row and the Gators two straight.
“They went through what we went through, and then they came back and won that game (vs. Auburn) and then beat Alabama on the road,” Calipari said. “They’re clicking at the right time, too.”
Not only are the Cats and Gators clicking, but they’re also both in the middle of a logjam from third place to seventh place in SEC standings. UK’s once-complicated scenarios for seeding in next week’s SEC Tournament in St. Louis are much simpler now though.
If Kentucky wins at Florida on Saturday, the Wildcats guarantee themselves a double-bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Lose and UK needs some help. Fans know the situation well. So do the players, but they have a bigger goal in mind.
“That’s really important,” Hamidou Diallo said, “but it’s much more of us just focusing on what we need to do going into March and the momentum that we need going into March knowing that this is when the season really starts for us. We just need to focus on that and know this is just another big game for us.”
This big game also happens to be a rematch of a Jan. 20 game when UK squandered a three-point lead in the final five minutes and failed to score on the game’s last possession trailing by two. PJ Washington was blocked in the final seconds of that game on a play that has been the subject of much conversation, but he wasn’t interested in engaging in it on Friday.
“We never should have gotten ourselves in that position in the first place,” Washington said. “It was just our fault. We should have been up a couple points going into that. We learned from it and we’re trying to get better in practice today.”
Diallo was also move concerned with improvement than retribution.
“We’re not dwelling on the past,” Diallo said. “That’s one thing—once the game is over, we close that chapter and focus on the next one. So coming out today, we’re going to hope that we’re not in position for a last play like that to matter.”
There might have been a time the Cats would have spent more time thinking about more than just the task at hand, but they are past that point.
“We just want to end the season off on the right note,” Diallo said. “We want to end the season off with a W and go into this March thinking about winning. That’s what it’s all about.”
Kentucky Rolls Past Missouri for Fourth Straight Win
Kentucky has followed a four-game slide with four consecutive wins featuring some of its best play this season along with the poise that wasmissing during the slump.
The No. 23/25 Wildcats had all of those aspects come together late to beat Ole Miss for a victory coach John Calipari suggested his young teamhad to win. Kevin Knox had 22 points and Quade Green added 18, including eight during a 15-5 second-half run that helped Kentucky pull awayfrom the Rebels for a 96-78 victory Wednesday night.
”It was a win we had to have and I told them after the game,” said Calipari, adding that telling them before the game might have made themnervous. ”I didn’t want to tell them that, this was like the biggest game of the year for us. This was it.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points, a career-high 10 assists and seven rebounds. Wenyen Gabriel added 15 points and PJ Washington 10as the Wildcats (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth consecutive game and home finale, the first without departing seniorsunder Calipari. Green had two 3-pointers and a layup during the run that provided an 82-69 lead with 6:40 remaining.
The freshman guard ended up making 7 of 12 shots in 30 minutes, crediting his play to playing off guard as Calipari stressed.
”Just being aggressive, really,” Green said. ”When I’ve got the ball, just be aggressive and make the right plays. Score when I have to score.Shoot when I have to shoot, pass when I have to pass.”
Kentucky shot 55.6 percent after halftime and 50 percent overall in a game that was chippy at times, resulting in five technical foul calls andthe quick ejection of Ole Miss senior forward Marcanvis Hymon after just 3 1/2 minutes.
“We knew they were going to be aggressive and get a little out of hand,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. ”We just had to keep our composure andkeep ahead.”
NOTABLES:
• UK leads the series 106-13 and has won nine in a row vs. the Rebels. The Wildcats lead 54-2 in games in Lexington
• Kentucky’s 50 first-half points were its most since 54 vs. Monmouth on Dec. 9
• Three players — Knox, Gilgeous-Alexander and Gabriel — scored double figures by halftime
• Ahead 75-69, UK put the game away with a 10-0 spurt
• Kentucky has scored its highest point total in SEC play in the last three games. The Wildcats’ 96 points are their second most of the season,behind only the 107 points vs. UIC
• UK has hit eight or more 3-pointers in three straight games, its best stretch of the season from behind the arc
• The Wildcats dished out 19 assists, their most in SEC play this season and one off the season high
• Four players scored 15 or more points the first time that has happened since the win over Texas A&M on Jan. 9
• UK got to the foul line 35 times and made 26
• Kentucky finished the home schedule with a 16-2 record
• It was Calipari’s 150th win at Rupp Arena
• Knox reached the 20-point plateau for the third straight game and team leading ninth time overall. He’s the first Wildcat to do that sinceMalik Monk did it four straight times in November and December of 2016
• Jarred Vanderbilt followed his 15-rebound game vs. Missouri with 11 against Ole Miss
• Gilgeous-Alexander posted his first double-double
• Green’s 18 points are his second-highest point total of the season. He’s scored in double figures in four straight games, which equals his beststretch of his career. He’s also made two 3-pointers in four straight games, in six of seven and eight of 10
• Washington reached double figures for the fifth straight game as he continues to shine off the bench
• Gabriel’s 15 points were his second-highest total of the season and his first in double figures since the Jan. 20 game vs. Florida
Jarred Vanderbilt Named SEC Freshman of the Week
Freshman forward Jarred Vanderbilt enjoyed a breakout week in two of UK’s most dominating victories en route to earning SoutheasternConference Freshman of the Week honors on Monday.
Vanderbilt averaged a double-double with 11.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in UK’s victories at Arkansas and at home vs. Missouri. His emergencehas been the difference maker for the Wildcats in three consecutive victories, but it was wins at Arkansas and Missouri, in dominating fashion,that has solidified the Cats as a contender once again. Kentucky moved into a tie for third place in the SEC standings, largely behind Vanderbilt’senergized play.
Vanderbilt began the week by scoring a career-high-tying 11 points with nine rebounds on the road at Arkansas and then followed it up withhis first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 15 boards against Missouri.
For the week, Vanderbilt shot 80.0 percent from the field. Prior to this week’s two games, Vanderbilt was shooting 34.0 percent from the field.Vanderbilt’s 15 rebounds against the Tigers matches a team high for a single game this season. He also blocked a career-high three shots in thewin over Mizzou.
For the season, Vanderbilt is averaging a rebound per every 2.1 minutes played. His ratio of rebounds per minute is the best single-seasonmark in school history (minimum 100 minutes played, with minutes statistics available since the 1962-63 season). His 7.8 rebounds per game isthe fourth-best mark in the league.
The SEC honor is the first of Vanderbilt’s career. It’s Kentucky’s fourth SEC Freshman of the Week honor of the season, more than any otherschool in the league. Hamidou Diallo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kevin Knox previously also won SEC Freshman of the Week.
UK’s SEC Tournament Scenarios
The previously muddled Southeastern Conference Tournament picture has cleared up significantly after this week’s midweek games — at leastfor the Wildcats. Although the league remains tightly bunched, UK’s seeding for St. Louis remains fairly straightforward.
With a 10-7 record against league foes, Kentucky has secured a first-round bye and at the earliest would play in St. Louis on Thursday. UKcontrols its own destiny for the coveted double-bye, which the Wildcats have earned every season since it began in 2013.
Here are the three scenarios for UK:
• If Kentucky wins Saturday, the Wildcats are the No. 3 seed by virtue of the third-best record and would get a double bye
• If Kentucky loses Saturday but Missouri beats Arkansas, UK is the No. 4 seed. The Wildcats would own every tiebreaker in any scenario forthe No. 4 seed, including the three-way tiebreaker between UK, Arkansas and Mizzou as well as the potential four-way tiebreaker between,UK, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Mizzou based on records vs. the teams tied
• If Kentucky loses and Arkansas defeats Mizzou, UK would fall to the No. 5 seed by virtue of record in regards to Arkansas. If MississippiState were to defeat LSU, UK would own the head-to-head tiebreaker. If the Wildcats fall to the No. 5 seed, they would begin play Thursday
