Coming into the quarterfinal game against Kentucky, it seemed like Florida had figured out how to finally knock down some shots from three. After being one of the worst teams in the country in three-point shooting, Florida had started to find its range and had been shooting at a much better clip during its 11-game winning streak to close out the regular season.
The bad news is that the three-point woes returned against Kentucky. The good news is that despite 3-20 from three, the Gators still controlled the entire game to win 71-63 and made history in the process.
Florida beats Kentucky for the third time this season
Florida’s win was its third over Kentucky this season. The only other time in program history Florida had beaten Kentucky three times in the same season was 2014. And unlike in 2014, Florida didn’t trail for a single second in any of the three wins.
That doesn’t mean Friday’s win was pretty.
In many ways, Florida needs to thank its lucky stars that Kentucky was playing its third game in three days and shot 5-23 from three. Throw in Florida mauling Kentucky on the glass (18 offensive rebounds to Kentucky’s eight), and the Gators won this game in part because they had size Kentucky couldn’t match, along with an energy level Kentucky couldn’t match.
Alex Condon ultimately saved the day with 22 points off 7-12 shooting.
The encouraging sign for Florida is that a game like this indicates the Gators can have an off night in the first couple of rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and they should be able to survive. Kentucky is viewed as a potential six or seven seed (something something 6-7), so Florida would see a similar type of team in the second round of the tournament.
For now, the Gators did what they needed to do to survive and advance to Saturday, making Florida the only team in the SEC to advance to the tournament semifinals or beyond each of the last three seasons.