[B]Kentucky Wildcats vs. Florida Gators[/B]
Tuesday, February 7, 2012, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
7:00 PM Tipoff, ESPN
The “easy” part of the SEC schedule is over. “Easy” seems like the wrong term to use, since I’ve always been of the belief that there’s no such thing as an easy conference game. But up until now, the toughest test Kentucky (23-1) have faced thus far in the SEC has been their home win over Alabama two weeks ago. From here on out, every single team they face, with the exception of rebuilding Georgia, has a legitimate claim to an NCAA tournament bid. And it all starts with an all-too-familiar enemy, the Florida Gators.
The eighth ranked Gators (19-4, 7-1 in the SEC) come into Rupp looking for a resume win to solidify a high tournament seed. While they’ve attained a good record, they lack that one key win that will make them more attractive to the selection committee. Their best wins are probably over Texas A&M, Florida State and Arizona in overtime. Up until recent wins against South Carolina and Ole Miss, the Gators had lost all their road games to date this season. Two of those losses were against top five teams Ohio State and Syracuse. The other two you ask? They were embarrassing losses to the 12-12 Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the 11-12 Tennessee Volunteers. To say they’ve struggled on the road so far is an understatement.
Despite this, Gator freshman Bradley Beal provided some minor bulletin board material for Tuesday when he told reporters, “”We have the swag where we’re going to compete hard and try to get the win … We’re not going in there with any doubts just because they’re Kentucky.” The first year guard contributes 14.3 points in a team-high 33.4 minutes per contest.
The team is led by junior guard Kenny Boynton, who leads all Gators with 17.6 points a contest and is one of their best perimeter shooters with a 43.8% percentage from downtown. Boynton is the very definition of a volume scorer, putting up a team high 279 field goals, or about 21% of his team’s total attempts. Volume scorers will get their points almost every time, but when they hit a hot streak, it could end up being a long night. He’s scored more than 20 points ten times this season, including 26 points on three different occasions, and isn’t someone to be taken lightly.
The most anticipated matchup of the night will probably be Anthony Davis and sophomore forward Patric Young. Young has made a name for himself as a banger down low, who plays aggressively and can rebound with the best of them. While Davis is more than capable of holding his own against any opponent, he seems to have the toughest time against big, aggressive low post players. He’s averaging 10.7 points and a team high 6.5 rebounds per game. He does however need a lot of work of his offensive game, especially when he faces the basket, which is something that Davis has shown an aptitude for thus far.
[B]PREDICTION: [/B]Over the past few years, Florida has probably been Kentucky’s biggest SEC rival. No doubt both teams have circled this game on their calendar, and will no doubt bring their A games. Kentucky is gelling at the right time, playing some of their best basketball of the season over the last four games. Terrence Jones is playing back to his Player of the Year expectations, and Darius Miller is providing an excellent spark off the bench. Doron Lamb seems to have regained his shooting touch, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist continues to play up-tempo, hard-nosed basketball and Marquis Teague continues to improve with each passing game. I said it earlier in the season, and it bears repeating. To quote (and rephrase) the great Steve Earle, “Anthony Davis is the best shot blocker the SEC has seen in the past 20 years and I’ll stand on Jarvis Varnardo’s coffee table and say it.” But will all this momentum equate to a win? This will be a close game, coming down to who makes the least mistakes and who can play the best defense. Look for Kentucky to add another signature win to its resume.
[B]Kentucky 68, Florida 63[/B]
