KSR's top takeaways from Kentucky's high-scoring scare against Florida

Sheesh. What a game that was, huh? After getting up by 17 on Florida — a Florida team that entered Thursday 0-4 in the SEC — it seemed like Kentucky would cruise to another home victory. Instead, the Gators took the Cats down to wire, and even after falling into a seven-point hole, Kentucky came back and got the dub.

Here are KSR’s tippy top takeaways from Kentucky’s 94-89 win over the Florida Gators.

Kentucky can’t take any team in the SEC lightly

Florida’s good. Yes, 12-8 (0-5 SEC) Florida is a good basketball team. Are they going to win the SEC? No. Will they even make the NCAA Tournament? Probably not. But like all 16 teams in the SEC, the Gators have enough talent to potentially hand a team like Kentucky a loss if they don’t come ready to play for 40 whole minutes.

The Cats got out to a fast start, leading Florida by as much as 17 points in the first quarter. However, Kentucky let that massive lead slip away, and all of a sudden, it was just a seven-point lead at the half and entering the fourth quarter, it had flipped into a seven-point deficit for Kentucky.

Kenny Brooks has done a great job building Kentucky into one of the most talented teams in the conference, but even the bottom feeders in the league can pose as a major threat night in and night out.

Found a way to win with Teonni Key out, Clara Strack in foul trouble

That being said, Kentucky managed to get the win. It wasn’t pretty. High-scoring, sure, but not pretty at all. Kentucky’s defense wasn’t playing well during the stretch when Florida was making their runs, but at the same time, Florida was also just making their shots.

Hand in their face from the three-point line? Didn’t matter, they made it anyways. When Liv McGill or anyone else would drive and force up a shot over Kentucky’s bigs? The ball would roll around the rim and hang up there for what felt like 10 seconds before finally finding the bottom of the net. Then, all of a sudden, those shots just stopped falling.

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Florida shot 32-56 (57%) from the field and 9-20 (45%) from three-point range against Kentucky. They scored 89 points against the top scoring defense in the SEC, and to be honest, the Gators probably should have won. However, with Teonni Key still out due to injury and Clara Strack on the bench late with foul trouble, Kentucky dug deep and found a way to win.

Tonie Morgan has taken her game even further in SEC play

Ever since her buzzer-beating game-winner at LSU, Tonie Morgan has truly played like the best point guard in the country. The 5-foot-9 Georgia Tech transfer is averaging averaging 20.8 points, 9.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds to start conference play. Those are elite numbers.

Against Florida, she recorded 26 points on 8-9 (1-2 3PT) shooting and cashed in on nine of her 13 attempts from the free throw line. Plus, in true Tonie Morgan fashion, she had 13 assists as well, making for her fifth double-double of the season. Three of those have come in Kentucky’s five SEC games.

There aren’t too many players in the country playing better than her right now, and once again, she played out of her mind to catapult Kentucky across the finish line and into the win column.