National Basketball Association
Kentucky 68, Florida 61
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 7, 2015
Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # Lee Cassell, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
12578
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 1 Kentucky 68, Florida 61: Aaron Harrison scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 as the visiting Wildcats withstood an upset bid by the Gators.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 13 points and Devin Booker chipped in 12 for Kentucky (23-0, 10-0 SEC), which snapped a three-game losing streak to Florida and tied the second-best start in school history. Only four players made a field goal for the Wildcats, who remained unbeaten despite shooting 3-of-14 from 3-point range and allowing Florida to shoot 49 percent.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, Kasey Hill added 12 and Eli Carter had 11 for Florida (12-11, 5-5). The Gators had a chance to tie the game at 61 with 1:41 left but Jon Horford missed two foul shots and the Wildcats closed on a 7-2 run to secure the victory.
Kentucky committed 10 first-half turnovers and trailed 30-28 at the break after closing on an 8-2 run. The first six minutes of the second half featured five lead changes and the game remained close into the final minutes, when Cauley-Stein converted two free throws with just over three minutes left to put the Wildcats ahead 59-54 before Finney-Smith drained a 3-pointer on Florida’s next possession
Carter scored to cut Florida’s deficit to 61-59 with 2:14 left, but Kentucky took control after Horford - who came in shooting 89.7 percent from the foul line - missed two free throws. The Wildcats were 21-of-22 from the foul line compared to 7-of-14 for Florida, which fell to 2-11 all-time against the nation’s No. 1 team.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky freshman F Trey Lyles missed his third straight game due to an undisclosed illness. … Florida G Michael Frazier was limited to six minutes in the second half due to an ankle injury and finished with 10 points. … Cauley-Stein provided the play of the game with a tomahawk dunk over Devin Robinson that tied the game at 44 with 12:09 remaining.
Top Game Performances
Kentucky |
|
Florida |
Aaron Harrison 23 |
Scoring |
Dorian Finney-Smith 16 |
Tyler Ulis 5 |
Assists |
Kasey Hill 6 |
Karl-Anthony Towns 8 |
Rebounds |
Dorian Finney-Smith 5 |
Aaron Harrison 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Michael Frazier II 2 |
Dominique Hawkins 2 |
Steals |
Chris Chiozza 3 |
Karl-Anthony Towns 2 |
Blocks |
Devin Robinson 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kentucky
|
68 |
46.8 |
3-14 |
21-22 |
12 |
28 |
2 |
4 |
15 |
Florida
|
61 |
49.0 |
6-21 |
7-14 |
9 |
19 |
1 |
8 |
11 |