PREVIEW: Kentucky looks to stay hot at home against Florida

After beating then No. 5 Oklahoma in Historic Memorial Coliseum, Kentucky will look to move to 10-0 at home against Florida. The Gators are one of three teams that are winless in SEC play, so they’ll be looking to get on the right footing against a top 10 team.

KSR has everything you need to know before Thursday’s matchup.

Bio Blast

According to the official Florida Gators website, Kentucky leads the all-time series 34-24. The Cats are currently on a four-game winning streak against Florida and have won eight of the last 10 against the Gators. Kentucky is 15-10 all-time against Florida at home. Last season, Kentucky beat Florida 71-55 on the road.

Florida is currently 12-7 (0-4 SEC), and after starting the year 8-1, things have truly just fallen apart for them. In the non-conference, Florida took losses to Navy and Tulsa. They did keep things surprisingly close against No. 2 South Carolina, only losing that one 74-63.

The Gators are led by fifth-year head coach Kelly Rae Finley, who was an assistant in Gainesville from 2017-2021 before taking over prior to the 2021-22 season. In her first year at the helm, Florida went 21-11. They haven’t had quite that same level of success since then, but there’s potential for a turnaround with a young core to work with.

Scouting Report

Liv McGill is not only one of the best guards in the SEC, but the country. She is far and away the Gator’s best player and main threat on offense. McGill averages 23.4 points, 5.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game.

Me’Arah O’Neal — one of the daughters of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal — is one of Florida’s better players as well. She puts up 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest, and the 6-foot-4 sophomore can knock it down from deep a bit too, hitting 27.5% of her three-point shots.

The last Florida Gator that averages double figures in the scoring column is guard Laila Reynolds. She averages 12.6 points, four rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

Florida Gators roster

SEC Student-Athlete Initial Availability Report

Projected Kentucky Starters

#5 – Tonie Morgan

5-FOOT-8 – GUARD – SENIOR

14.4 PPG – 8.5 APG – 3.7 RPG

#8 – Asia Boone

5-FOOT-8 – GUARD – JUNIOR

9.8 PPG – 2.8 RPG – 2.2 APG

#0 – Jordan Obi

6-FOOT-1 – GUARD – GRADUATE STUDENT

10.6 PPG – 6.5 RPG – 1.2 APG

#32 – Amelia Hassett

6-FOOT-4 – FORWARD – SENIOR

9.4 PPG – 5.6 RPG – 1.8 APG

#13 – Clara Strack

6-FOOT-5 – CENTER – JUNIOR

16.2 PPG – 10.1 RPG – 2.9 BPG

Phoenix’s Prediction

Score: 75-58, Kentucky

MVP: Clara Strack

Florida has a couple of really talented players that, on any given night, can give some of the best teams in the country a scare — just ask South Carolina. However, Kentucky is the better team, and like South Carolina, I expect the Cats to pull out the win. I don’t necessarily expect Kentucky to be threatened much outside of a potential slow start.

How to Watch/Listen

Location	Tipoff	TV	Radio	Live Stats
Historic Memorial Coliseum (Lexington, KY)	7 p.m. ET	SEC Network+ (Noah Frary and Christi Thomas)	630 WLAP, 790 WKRD (Darren Headrick)	StatBroadcast

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Join The Discussion on KSBoard

Want to interact with the KSR crew during tonight’s game? Consider joining the conversation on KSBoard, where we’ll be sharing live updates while also answering questions and providing real-time analysis (and probably complaining about the officiating).