When Kentucky travels to Florida tomorrow there will be plenty on the line for the Gators. They are trying to become the first team other than Kentucky to go undefeated in the SEC regular season. The four seniors in their starting lineup will be honored for senior day prior to the game. Those two factors combined with the Wildcats coming to town will have the crowd and the Gators extremely hyped for this game.
Florida has a balanced offensive attack that is led by senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin. Slowing him down is the key to beating the Gators. He drives the ball very well and scores frequently from the free throw line as well as being a good three point shooter. Keeping him out of the paint and limiting him to challenged jump shots will almost certainly be the game plan for the Cats. Sophomore shooting guard Michael Frazier is coming off a 37 point game in which he made 11 three point shots. It will be important to stay on him close at all times to limit his open looks. Casey Prather is the slashing small forward that leads them in scoring and had a great game against UK in the first meeting. Patric Young is the super athletic big man that pushed around the Cats in their first meeting. With multiple experienced weapons it will require a focused effort by each Wildcat if they hope to slow them down.
The Cats are coming off a stretch of three games that has seen them play what may be their worst basketball of the season. The offensive struggles for them have been as bad as any Cal coached team has went through at UK. Teams are filling the lane with defenders to prevent drives and Kentucky is shooting just 32% from the field in the past 3 games. At some point the law of averages would seem to force some shots to fall for the Cats but if the funk continues Florida could blow them out. During this stretch of futility it seems that every basket the Cats score is under duress. There have been an extremely limited number of easy baskets or fast break points. The Gators can play fast or slow but their half-court defense is exceptional so it could be in the Cats favor to try to push the tempo.
If Kentucky hopes to have a shot in this game they must dominate the Gators on the backboard both on the offensive and defensive end. Willie Cauley-Stein has yet to play well this season against a strong physical team but a decent game from him will be crucial. He has the length and athleticism to challenge the Gators inside if he will not back down from their aggressive play. The key for Julius Randle will be to crash the boards with reckless abandon and to not try to force things on offense. The game plan for the twins and James Young will simply be to get the ball into the paint on every possession. That can be done by driving the ball or passing it into the post. At times this year the Cats have drove the lane and taken wild shots in an attempt to avoid contact. Against Florida it will be important to seek out contact rather than to shy away from it. Foul trouble could be big for the Gators since they are not an overly deep team.
One of the biggest things that freshmen struggle with throughout history is playing up or down to the level of their competition. This has likely been a huge factor in the last three games for Kentucky whether they care to admit it. When traveling to the home floor of the number one team in the nation, that may go undefeated in conference play, being up for the game will not be an issue. The Cats have been written off by many and they are surely aware of it going into this game. The players have said that they still believe that this season can be a special story. If that is going to be the case it really needs to begin on Saturday. That does not mean they have to win but it does mean they need to play a whole lot better.
Kentucky could not walk into a much tougher environment than what they will face tomorrow so a win is going to be hard to come by. With that said I think they come ready for the challenge and fight tooth and nail to the very end. When it is over win or lose the question that fans and media will ask is how this team played so bad these past three games. My official prediction for the game is that the Gators are just too much to handle in the end and they come away with a 68-63 win. Even in the loss Big Blue Nation will have some hope rekindled as the focus shifts to the SEC tournament.
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