KSR Today: Kentucky comes up short against Florida

On Jan. 3, Kentucky went to Alabama and dropped a game to the Crimson Tide at Coleman Coliseum. Since that loss, the Wildcats have been rolling on the weekend. Mark Pope‘s squad had won five consecutive Saturday games with a couple of upsets mixed in heading into this weekend’s first place showdown. Unfortunately, that streak could not be extended on Valentine’s Day.

The Cats could not overcome another slow start and big first half deficit. Florida jumped out to a 32-17 lead just over the halfway point in the first 20 minutes. Kentucky was climbing uphill for the duration of the game after that. Despite getting within two points just after halftime, the Cats could never get over the hump. The Gators eventually stretched the lead to 16 (74-58) with under nine minutes to go before a late Kentucky push got them within a couple of possessions. UK had their chances but could never land the big punch after eating some haymakers in both halves.

Lay-ups (8-of-23) and turnovers (14) were also big issues. Kentucky struggled to score efficiently as Denzel Aberdeen and Otega Oweh needed 35 field goal attempts to score 32 points. The duo was a combined 1-of-9 from three. UK simply needed better scoring but the defense really had no answers for Florida’s offensive tempo. Xaivian Lee was hot early and Kentucky was unable to find spot-up shooter Urban Klavzar multiple times in the second half. This duo poured in nine threes on 20 attempts and gave a poor perimeter shooting team a big lift in the half court.

Now Kentucky will go back to the drawing board before hosting a reeling Georgia team on Tuesday night. KSR is taking one final look back at the loss as the Wildcats attempt to regroup after a Quad 1A road loss.

KSR recaps Kentucky’s first loss in O’Connell Center since 2018

For the first time since Mike White was on the sideline and Chris Chiozza was the point guard in Gainesville, Florida leaves a home game with Kentucky victorious. The loss ends UK’s six-game winning streak in Gainesville. For the third consecutive meeting in the series, the winner needed 90 points. Kentucky could not get to that threshold on Saturday.

This is what happened and what was said in the postgame. Smash those links.

• RECAP: Florida leads from start to finish in 92-83 win
• Todd Golden throws jab at Kentucky
• Takeaways from Kentucky’s unsuccessful comeback attempt
• Slowing down Otega Oweh was a top priority for Florida
• Otega Oweh joined Kentucky’s 1,000-point club
• Collin Chandler got hot again in the second half
• Florida’s other guys beat Kentucky
• Denzel Aberdeen drops 19 points against his old school
• Missed lay-ups, turnovers, and foul trouble doomed Kentucky
• Malachi Moreno more than held his own in a tough matchup

More postgame coverage on KSR’s YouTube Channel

Want to know what Mark Pope, Kentucky players, and Todd Golden said after the game? We’ve got you covered. KSR’s YouTube Channel has the postgame press conferences plus a Rapid Reaction from Jack Pilgrim and Steven Peake on the road.

Smash play. Subscribe. Hit that like button as we talk about some Kentucky hoops.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Your weekly SEC race update

There are only three weeks remaining in the college basketball regular season. Everyone is now officially chasing Florida in the SEC. The race for the four double-bye spots in Nashville will likely come down to tiebreakers. Nine teams are at least within one game of the the top four spots in the league.

These are the current standings.

1. Florida (10-2)
2. Arkansas (9-3)
3. Vanderbilt (8-4)
4. Kentucky (8-4)
5. Tennessee (8-4)
6. Alabama (8-4)
7. Missouri (7-5)
8. Texas A&M (7-5)
9. Texas (7-5)
10. Georgia (5-7)
11. Auburn (5-7)
12. Mississippi State (4-8)
13. Oklahoma (3-9)
14. Ole Miss (3-9)
15. LSU (2-10)
16. South Carolina (2-10)

There is a four-way tie at 8-4 and a three-way tie at 7-5. Vanderbilt wins the No. 3 tiebreaker due to pool record (2-0). Kentucky (2-2) has a better pool record than Tennessee (1-2) and Alabama (1-2) allowing them to have the No. 4 spot if the SEC Tournament started today.

UK is not out of the hunt of a regular season title yet due to a return game against Florida arriving in March, but they might need to win out to catch the Gators at this point.

Kentucky baseball gets out the brooms

Mother Nature forced a change of plans for Kentucky baseball this weekend. The Bat Cats played two against UNC Greensboro on Saturday. UK won both thanks to terrific starting pitching and consistent offense.

Game 2: Kentucky 11, UNCG 3

Game 3: Kentucky 10, UNCG 6

UK got 12 innings, one earned run, seven hits, 22 strikeouts, and zero walks from their starting weekend rotation. Meanwhile, the offense reached double-digit runs in each game, stole 23 bases, and slugged five triples over three games. The Wildcats did most of that without star shortstop Tyler Bell is currently “out indefinitely” as he deals with a shoulder injury. This was a major blow for Nick Mingione’s squad but it did not stop them from rolling over UNCG to start the season.

The home opener is on deck. Kentucky will host Morehead State on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET.

Kentucky hosts No. 14 Ole Miss at HMC

The basketball is not over yet. On Sunday afternoon, Kenny Brooks and Kentucky will play an important SEC game.

The Cats (19-7, 6-6) will face ranked Ole Miss (20-5, 7-3) in a critical game in the SEC. The Rebels are 7-3 over the last 10 in this series and has made the Sweet 16 twice in the last three seasons. Head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has a legit SEC program. Kentucky could use another quality win on their NCAA Tournament resume.

The action starts at 2 p.m. ET. KSR will have full game coverage at KSBoard and postgame coverage right here once this one goes final.

Location	Tipoff	TV	Radio	Live Stats
Historic Memorial Coliseum (Lexington, KY)	2 p.m. ET	SEC Network (Sam Gore and Angel Grey)	630 WLAP, 790 WKRD (Darren Headrick)	StatBroadcast