Game Notes: Kentucky 82, Florida 74

Game Notes: Kentucky 82, Florida 74

Below are game notes from Kentucky's 82-74 road win over the Florida Gators on Wednesday night in Gainesville:

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky has won three in a row and is now 19-9 overall, 10-5 in the SEC.
• Florida is now 14-14 overall and 7-8 in the league.
• Kentucky leads the overall series 109-41 and has won four in a row vs. the Gators.
• UK leads 40-26 in games played in Gainesville and has won the last five there.
• Next for the Wildcats: Kentucky begins a two-game homestand Saturday at 4 p.m. vs. Auburn. The game will be televised by CBS.

Team Notes

• Kentucky clinched a winning road record in SEC games this season and is now 5-3 in league play away from home. UK ends the regular season March 4 at Arkansas.
• Kentucky led by as many as 15 points. The Wildcats are 326-13 (96.2%) under John Calipari when leading by at least 10 points at some point during the game.
• UK dominated the rebounding 40-21, and a 13-2 edge in offensive boards led to a 15-0 tally in second-chance points.
• UK is 19-4 this season when winning the rebounding, including 12-0 when winning the rebounding with a double-figure margin.
• The plus-19 rebounding margin was the second largest in an SEC road game in the Calipari era. A plus-22 rebounding margin at LSU Feb. 6, 2010 is the best for a Calipari-coached Wildcat team.
• Kentucky shot 53.2% from the field, 33 of 62. The Wildcats are 8-1 this season when shooting at least 50%.
• Kentucky got double-doubles from Jacob Toppin and Chris Livingston, first UK pair to do since Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe in the win vs. Georgia on January 17.
• Kentucky did a great job taking advantage of turnovers, turning 10 Florida miscues into 21 points. Kentucky won despite Florida making 50% from the field, 26 of 52. This marked the third time this season (also Florida A&M and Mississippi State) that Kentucky won despite the opponent shooting at least 50%.

Player Notes

• Chris Livingston had 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
• He had the biggest play of the game with his putback-and-one with 50 seconds left that blunted a Florida rally and increased the lead to 77-72.
• It’s the second-consecutive double-double for the current SEC Freshman of the Week.
• The last Wildcat with consecutive double-doubles was Tshiebwe vs. Georgia and Mississippi State on Feb. 11 and 15.
• Jacob Toppin had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
• It is his sixth double-double of the season, including both games vs. Florida.
• It is his 11th-straight game with double-figure scoring.
• Oscar Tshiebwe made 12 of 13 shots en route to a game-high 25 points.
• His field-goal percentage of 92.3% is fourth-highest in one game in Kentucky history (minimum eight attempts)
• Tshiebwe is one of eight players nationally this season to have a game of 12 of 13 or better from the field.
• This was his third 25-point game of the season, 10th of his career.
• Became the 61st player in Kentucky history to score 1,000 points as a Wildcat. He now has 1,010 points in his two seasons at UK.
• With four rebounds today, he totals 844 in only 60 UK games and moved past Sam Bowie (843) for eighth place in UK history.
• Antonio Reeves tossed in 16 points, his 21st double-figure game of the season, along with a season-high four assists.

Coach John Calipari

• This was Calipari’s 183rd SEC regular-season win, moving past legendary Tennessee coach Ray Mears for fifth place in league history.
• Calipari is 24-9 vs. Florida, with all but one win coming at Kentucky.
• Calipari has an 829-250 all-time on-court record and is 384-110 in 14 seasons at UK.
• UK is 315-62 (83.6%) against unranked competition under Calipari.

In the First Half

• Kentucky opened with a starting lineup of Cason Wallace, Antonio Reeves, Chris Livingston, Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe for the fourth game in a row.
• Adou Thiero, Daimion Collins and Lance Ware were the first subs at the 11:14 mark.
• Kentucky built a 30-15 lead by the media timeout at the 7:55 mark.
• Florida finished the half with a 22-6 surge to take a 38-37 lead at the break.
• Tshiebwe scored 15 points in the first half, reaching an even 1,000 points for his UK career.
• UK is now 3-9 this season when trailing at halftime.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky opened the second half with the starting lineup, which went on to play the entire half without substitution.
• Tshiebwe, Reeves and Toppin combined for the first 14 points as UK regained a 50-43 lead and Florida called timeout at the 15:13 mark.
• The Gators responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead.
• Kentucky came back with a 7-0 spurt to make it 57-51; although the Wildcats never trailed again, the win wasn’t assured until the final minute.
• Florida rallied to tie at 59, but baskets by Livingston, Reeves, Wallace and Tshiebwe restored an eight-point cushion.
• Florida got back within 67-63, but foul shots by Reeves and a Toppin 3-pointer coaxed a Gators’ timeout at 4:06.
• UK pushed the run to 7-0, and a 74-63 lead, on a dunk by Toppin at the 3:43 mark.
• Florida came right back with its own 9-0 run to make it 74-72 with a minute to go.
• After UK missed a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left, Livingston crashed the backboard for a huge follow-and-one to make it 77-72.
• Three free throws by Toppin and two by Wallace preserved the verdict.

More on the win over Florida HERE. 

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