USA Today picks Florida to upset Kentucky in Gainesville Saturday night.
Here’s an excerpt:
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 23 Florida
Saturday, 8:15 p.m., ESPN
► About the Wildcats (18-4, 8-1): This freshmen-laden team grew up fast, but that doesn’t mean growing pains still won’t persist, as they did in back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Kansas last week. Against the Jayhawks, a brutal stretch saw the Wildcats turn it over 10 times before finishing the game with 17 turnovers. They had 14 against Tennessee. Freshman Malik Monk has been making a strong push at national player of the year for his consistent — and highlight-reel — offense. He had 37 points in this week’s overtime win against Georgia, helping the Wildcats avoid another blip and doing so without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox. Overall, this team usually shoots the ball well, around 50%. And John Calipari’s youngsters rank third nationally in scoring with 91.3 points per game.
► About the Gators (17-5, 7-2): Two losses in a row for Florida have been remedied with a pair of dominant road wins, one being a 35-point shellacking of LSU (Jan. 25) and the other a 32-point drubbing of Oklahoma (Jan. 28) and a blowout of Missouri. One thing missing from the Gators’ résumé is a signature victory. They’ve been close — falling narrowly to Gonzaga, Duke and Florida State — but ultimately came up short. While KeVaughn Allen and Canyon Barry have been the key cogs on offense, others have stepped up when needed. Junior forward Devin Robinson (11.8 ppg) has been a key offensive force for coach Michael White. Florida has also been getting a big boost from its bench. Sophomore big man Kevarrius Hayes had 20 points and nine rebounds against Oklahoma, while freshman Eric Hester had 16 points off five three-pointers against LSU.
► Star watch: Kentucky guard Monk (22.4 ppg) and Fox (15.9 ppg, 5.7 apg). Florida guard Allen (13.6 ppg) and Barry (12.8 ppg).
► The pick: Florida. Home-court advantage helps here, and it’s time Mike White and his team picked up the statement victory to embolden their reemergence as contenders — not just in the SEC but in the country. The Gators have plenty of weapons to surge in February under their new head coach, who has never been to the NCAA tournament with any team.
