Kentucky avoids scare from Florida and escapes with 94-89 win

Kentucky was coming off a thrilling win against Oklahoma, who was a top five team in the country at the time. Of course, when you experience the highest of highs like that, the lowest of lows and come to bite you in the rear end if you aren’t mentally prepared to move on and play the next game.

Florida is a middle-of-the-road SEC program at best, but at the same time, they have enough talent to steal a win here and there. The Gators entered Thursday night 0-4 in conference play, and they were looking to play spoiler in Historic Memorial Coliseum.

However, Kentucky was able to handle business at home, getting the 94-89 win to move to 17-2 (4-1 SEC) on the year and 10-0 in home games.

Kentucky started this one out on fire, hitting five of their first eight three-point attempts (63%). Practically right out of the gate, the Cats went on a 10-0 run, and even after Florida timeout, the offense continued to pour on. Lexi Blue even had six points by the end of the first quarter. After one, Kentucky led 29-14.

Florida was actually making most of their shots when the first quarter ended, and that momentum carried over to the second quarter. Kentucky would go consecutive possessions without scoring and all of a sudden, it was a 36-34 game. However, Kentucky would extend the lead just a bit, heading into the half with a 45-38 advantage.

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Then, the Gators would dominate the third quarter as well. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for Kentucky. The Cats couldn’t hit a shot, and Florida couldn’t miss. Every low-percentage three-point shooter was suddenly a marksman, and every contested look at the hoop rolled its way through the net. The defense wasn’t playing well, and Kentucky was staring at a 73-66 deficit with one quarter left to go.

Kentucky got out to a quick start in the fourth, then trailing 75-74 with 7:48 to go, and it continued to be a back and forth affair from there, but the Cats ended up picking up the victory. EVERYONE, BREATHE.

Kentucky will head down to Starkville to square off against Mississippi State in its next game on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 14-5 (1-4 SEC), and they have lost in four consecutive games. Last season, Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence combined for 55 points and 14 made threes in a 91-69 win for Kentucky to open SEC play. That matchup is set for 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.