[B]UK Hoops Postgame Notes[/B]
[B]Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
March 2, 2012[/B]
[B]Final Score: No. 10/9 Kentucky 71, Florida 67[/B]
[h=3][/h][h=3][U]Team Records and Series Notes[/U][/h][h=3][/h]
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[*]Kentucky improves to 25-5, while Florida is now 19-11.
[*]With the win, Kentucky advances to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and will face the winner of Arkansas/LSU
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[*]It is the third straight year UK has advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
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[*]Kentucky is now 24-22 against Florida all-time, and 4-2 against the Gators in the SEC Tournament.
[*]The win is Kentucky’s third straight over Florida and third win over the Gators this season.
[*]Kentucky beat Florida 59-56 in Gainesville, Fla., on Jan. 1 and 57-52 in Lexington, Ky., on Jan. 22.
[*][URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/mitchell_matthew00.html”]Matthew Mitchell[/URL] is 6-2 against the Gators as a head coach, and 6-1 against Florida as Kentucky’s head coach.
[*]Coach [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/mitchell_matthew00.html”]Matthew Mitchell[/URL] is now 141-83 overall and 111-54 at UK.
[*]Kentucky is 23-31 in SEC Tournament play, and 6-4 under Mitchell.
[*]Kentucky is 653-469 in 38 years of varsity play.
[*]Kentucky will play in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament against the winner of the Arkansas-LSU game. The semifinal clash will be at 4:00 p.m. ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
[/LIST][h=3]First Half Notes[/h]
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[*]Kentucky used the starting lineup of [B][URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/smith_amber00.html”]Maegan Conwright[/URL][/B][B], A’dia Mathies, [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/goss_bria00.html”]Bria Goss[/URL][/B][B], [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/evans_kastine00.html”]Kastine Evans[/URL][/B] [B]and [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/walker_samarie00.html”]Samarie Walker[/URL][/B] for the third time this season. The Wildcats are 3-0 with this lineup.
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[*]UK has started a freshman in 132-of-165 games in the [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/mitchell_matthew00.html”]Matthew Mitchell[/URL] era, including 99 straight.
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[*]UK led 6-4 when Florida went on a 16-0 run for a 20-6 lead, UF’s biggest of the game.
[*]The Wildcats responded with a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 20-18.
[*]Florida kept the Cats at bay the remainder of the half and took a 32-25 advantage into intermission.
[/LIST][h=3]Second Half Notes[/h]
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[*]Trailing 40-27, UK went on an 18-4 run for a 45-44 Wildcat lead.
[*]With the game tied at 54, Florida made a huge play to break the tie. Trapped by two Wildcats with the shot clock expiring, Jaterra Bonds managed a lob to Azania Stewart, who tipped it in to put the Gators ahead.
[*]UK battled back, regaining the lead with two fouls shots each by [B]A’dia Mathies, Bria Goss [/B]and [B]Samarie Walker[/B]to go ahead 60-56.
[*]Florida bounced back with a 7-0 surge, breaking a 60-60 tie with a three from Lanita Bartley.
[*]UK came back with more foul shots, two each from [B]Goss [/B]and [B]Mathies[/B] for a 64-63 UK advantage.
[*]Trailing 65-64, [B]Goss’[/B] layup at 1:24 put the Wildcats up for good and was UK’s first basket in almost eight minutes. [B]Mathies [/B]followed with a rebound and two foul shots with 30 seconds left for a 68-65 lead.
[*]Florida countered with a layup with 20 seconds to go. [B]Mathies [/B]was fouled with 15 seconds and she made the second of two to make it 69-67.
[*]After a Florida miss, [B]Kastine Evans[/B] came up with the loose ball and was fouled with five seconds to go; [B]Evans [/B]made both foul shots to ice the 71-67 win.
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[h=3]Team/Game Notes[/h]
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[*]Kentucky overcame a 14-point deficit to win, the biggest comeback of the season. Previously, UK trailed Georgia by 10 on Jan. 19 before rallying to win.
[/LIST]· Kentucky won despite only scoring one basket in the last nine minutes. The Wildcats hit 16 of their last 19 foul shots of the game.
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[*]Kentucky forced 22 turnovers in the game.
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[*]UK has forced double-digit miscues in 112 consecutive games. The Cats are 82-30 during that span.
[*]UK has forced at least 20 turnovers in 27 of 30 games this season.
[*]Kentucky has forced an SEC-high 850 turnovers this season (28.3 per game), also a single-season school record for UK.
[*]Kentucky has forced at least 10 turnovers in 50 of 60 halves this season.
[*]The Wildcats are now 93-25 when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent in the Matthew Mitchell era.
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[*]Kentucky won the turnover battle (16-22).
[*]The Wildcats are 22-4 when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent.
[*]UK is 22-2 when its bench outscores the opponent’s bench.
[*]The Cats bench outscored the Florida bench 22-7.
[*]With eight made 3-pointers, UK extended its streak of consecutive games with a triple to 287.
[/LIST][h=3]Individual Notes[/h]
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[*]After scoring only three points in the first half, SEC Player of the Year [B]A’dia Mathies[/B] finished with a game-high 24.
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[*]Mathies scored 14 of UK’s final 26 points.
[*]Mathies now has 1,378 points and moved past Kristi Cushenberry (1,358) for 13[SUP]th[/SUP] place on the career scoring list.
[*]Mathies had two steals, giving her 243 in her career and tying LaTonya McDole for No. 7 on UK’s career steals list.
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[*]SEC Co-Sixth Woman of the Year [B]Keyla Snowden [/B]had 17 points, her biggest tally since getting 22 vs. Mississippi State on Jan. 18.
[*]SEC Freshman of the Year [B]Bria Goss[/B] missed her first eight shots from the field, but put the Wildcats ahead for good, 66-65, with a layup that was her only basket of the game.
[*]Goss also claimed three crucial rebounds in the final seven minutes of the game, all of which led the UK points.
[*]Goss also made 4-of-4 foul shots in the closing minutes
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