LIVE BLOG: No. 25 Kentucky at No. 14 Florida

FINAL: No. 14 Florida 92, No. 25 Kentucky 83

The effort was there for Kentucky, but the execution was not. The Cats just made too many mistakes against a good Florida team to pull off the upset in Gainesville today, falling 92-83. The Gators led by as many as 16 with eight minutes to go in the second half, but Kentucky battled back to keep it close, Collin Chandler hitting a three to cut the lead to five with 36 seconds to go. Unfortunately, that’s where the comeback ended.

Kentucky moves to 17-8, 8-4 in the SEC. Florida is in sole possession of first place in the SEC, with Kentucky and Arkansas two games back. The Razorbacks play Auburn tonight. The Cats host Georgia Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Denzel Aberdeen led Kentucky in scoring against his old team, with 19 points on 8-21 FG (1-6 3PT) and 2-3 FT, four assists, a steal, and a rebound. Collin Chandler (18 points), Otega Oweh (13), and Malachi Moreno (11) also finished in double figures.

Collin Chandler three cuts it to 5!

Don’t tell Collin Chandler this game is over. Chandler just hit a three to cut Florida’s lead to five with 36.8 seconds to go. It’s Chandler’s fifth three-pointer of the day.

Brandon Garrison fouls out

We’re still rolling in Gainesville. Florida is back at the free-throw line after Brandon Garrison’s fifth foul. Alex Condon hit 1-2 from the line to make it 88-80 with 58.2 to go.

1:21 2H: Florida 84, Kentucky 76

With under a minute and a half to go, Kentucky has chipped the lead down to eight after two free throws by Otega Oweh. Unfortunately, the Gators are headed back to the free-throw line after a foul on Brandon Garrison. Reminder that they entered the bonus just six minutes into this half.

3:05 2H: Florida 81, Kentucky 70

It’s the story of the second half so far: Kentucky cuts the lead to a manageable gap, just for Florida to come back and hit a huge bucket. The latest was by Urban Klavzar, who hit his fifth three-pointer to push the lead to 11 after a jumper by Denzel Aberdeen that had cut it to eight. The last four minutes have included a lot of those sequences, the Gators responding to huge buckets by Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, and Malachi Moreno.

Klavzar now leads all scorers with 19 points, 14 this half. Let’s try guarding him a little more closely, shall we?

This one may be over

There are still seven minutes to play, but this one feels kinda over. Florida leads 74-60 and is starting to assert control, now outrebounding Kentucky 40-28, 20-8 this half. The Gators have pulled down the last seven rebounds.

The officiating sure isn’t helping matters either. Eleven fouls have been called on Kentucky this half, to just four on Florida. I bet you’ve yelled about a few of them.

9:07 2H: Florida 72, Kentucky 58

And just like that, Florida’s lead is back to double digits. The Gators just went on a 7-0 run in 55 seconds to push the lead to 14 with nine minutes to go. They’re also outrebounding Kentucky by seven now.

This team has pulled off plenty of comebacks, but they can’t do it against a team this good while still making mistakes. 7-21 on layups now.

4-0 run by Rueben Chinyelu

We’ve been talking about Rueben Chinyelu all week. The Florida big man has been called the second coming of Oscar Tshiebwe, but was pretty quiet this game…until now. Chinyelu just scored four straight points, a putback layup and two free throws, to push Florida’s lead back to nine after a Jasper Johnson three.

Every time Kentucky gets close, the Gators respond. It would help if the Cats would stop turning the ball over and finish at the rim. Up to 6-17 on layups today.

11:54 2H: Florida 63, Kentucky 54

13:14 2H: Florida 59, Kentucky 51

Kentucky cut the lead to five, but a turnover by Brandon Garrison led to a three-pointer by Urban Klavzar to push it back to eight. The Cats have 11 turnovers, leading to 21 Florida points. Mo Dioubate also picked up his second foul, Kentucky’s seventh this half.

Fouls are mounting…

Fouls are starting to impact Kentucky’s frontcourt. Malachi Moreno is on the bench with four. Brandon Garrison now has three fouls. Andrija Jelavic has two. Mo Dioubate just has one. The Cats have six fouls this half, meaning the Gators will soon be in the bonus.

15:52 2H: Florida 52, Kentucky 46

The lead is back to six after a dunk by Micah Handlogten. Denzel Aberdeen is up to 13 points against his former school, which probably needs to tell this kid behind the announcers to put his phone down.

Good 2nd half start

It’s a back-and-forth battle in Gainesville to start the second half. Malachi Moreno dunked it off a pass from Collin Chandler (who hit a three on the prior possession) to cut Florida’s lead to two. Thomas Haugh and Xaivian Lee pushed it back to seven with 17:34 to go, but Andrija Jelavic hit a three to trim it to four. It’s just Kentucky’s fifth three-pointer of the day.

17:00 2H: Florida 50, Kentucky 46

HALFTIME: Florida 43, Kentucky 34

Things were trending in the wrong direction in a hurry, Florida taking a 32-17 lead with 9:24 to go and the O’Dome absolutely rocking, Kentucky on the ropes once again. To the Wildcats’ credit, again, they responded to cut it back to five as late as the 3:04 mark in the first half. Like defending champions do, the Gators responded to the punch with a punch back, making it a nine-point game at the break — but UK staying within striking distance by forcing a miss at the buzzer.

Denzel Aberdeen has nine points (4-11 FG) for the Cats, followed by Otega Oweh (4-10 FG) with eight and Collin Chandler, Mo Dioubate and Andrija Jelavic all with four. They’re shooting 37.5 percent overall, 37.5 percent from three and 63.6 percent at the line.

For the Gators, it was the Xaivian Lee (13) and Thomas Haugh (12) show with shooting splits of 50/36/57.

It’s tied up on the glass at 20-20 while UF is winning the turnover battle 9-6 with a 16-5 advantage on points off turnovers and eight fastbreak points compared to just two for UK.

Still, though, Kentucky will have a chance to make its move in the second half. Do the Cats have another comeback in the tank? It’s kinda what they do at this point…

Florida responds from its cold streak

3:30 1H Florida 37, Kentucky 29

And just like that, it’s down to five…

Otega Oweh is a 1,000-point scorer at Kentucky

Three fouls on Malachi Moreno

A big turnover differential puts Florida up 15

11:15 1H Florida 24, Kentucky 13

Well, here we go again…

15:53 1H Florida 10, Kentucky 5

Not the start we were looking for

Denzel Aberdeen showered with boos back in Gainesville

Tip time: 3:10 PM ET

Denzel Aberdeen isn’t the only former champion in the house…

Starting Lineups

No surprises on Kentucky’s end.

Final look at the SEC Standings

With a win today, Kentucky can take over first place in the SEC. The Cats would be tied with Florida and Arkansas at 8-3, but would own the tiebreaker with wins over both. Lots of basketball to play, obviously, but a reminder that this is a huge opportunity for Kentucky.

Here’s today’s SEC schedule so you can keep up with it all.:

• 7:43 2H – SEC Network – Vanderbilt 62, Texas A&M 52
• 3:00 PM ET – ABC – Kentucky at Florida
• 3:30 PM ET – SEC Network – Georgia at Oklahoma
• 6:00 PM ET – SEC Network – LSU at Tennessee
• 6:30 PM ET – ESPN2 – Mississippi State at Ole Miss
• 8:30 PM ET – ESPN – Auburn at Arkansas
• 8:30 PM ET – SEC Network – South Carolina at Alabama
• 8:30 PM ET – ESPN2 – Texas at Missouri

Today’s referees

…are Don Daily, Owen Shortt, and Chuck Jones. So, not Pat Adams or Doug Shows. Phew.

Meanwhile, the referees in Providence had a mess on their hands after this fight in St. John’s vs. Providence. Don’t mess with Bryce Hopkins!

KSR is LIVE to preview the Gators

KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, Brandon Ramsey, and Steven Peake are outside of the O’Connell Center to preview the Wildcats vs. the Gators. Click the video below to join them live!

First look at the Orange Out shirts at the O’Dome

Every lower-level seat in the house has an orange Florida shirt with the Gator throwing down a between-the-legs dunk. You better believe KSR will be leaving with one of those if Kentucky pulls off the upset in enemy territory — I’m still drinking out of the Woo Pig Sooie cup from Fayetteville, filled with Hog tears.

No denims (but the ‘93 throwbacks are back)

How to Watch, Listen

Today’s game is on the big network, ABC, with Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes on the call. It follows No. 9 Kansas at No. 5 Iowa State, so hopefully, we don’t have overtime in Ames.