UK to face Florida in SEC quarterfinals
March 13, 2015
By Joshua Huff
UK faces a familiar opponent on Friday as it opens SEC Tournament play with its second consecutive game against Florida.
The Gators dispatched Alabama, 69-61, on the second day of the tournament. The win means that Florida and UK will have played each other three times in the last 35 days. It also marks the first time UK has faced the same opponent in consecutive games since the 1987-88 season.
In stark contrast of Florida’s three-game sweep of UK last season, the Cats look to continue their perfect season with their own three-game sweep of the Gators. Hardly resembling last year’s Final Four team, Florida limped into the tournament with a 15-16 record, with its last loss at the hands of UK at Rupp Arena. The Gators have virtually no shot at earning an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament and must win the every SEC Tournament game to continue playing in the postseason.
Florida, however, has the benefit of familiarity with UK. The Gators will be the only team that will have faced the Cats three times this season, and they have kept it close with the No. 1 SEC team in the last two. The difference between the teams, however, has been the play in the second half.
In the first game in Gainesville, Fla., the Gators took a 30-28 lead into half, one of only six times UK has trailed or been tied at the half this season. But Florida failed to contain freshman forward Karl-Anthony Towns and sophomore guard Aaron Harrison after the break, and UK pulled out a 68-61 victory.
In the most recent matchup, the Cats had a 30-27 halftime-lead over the Gators before running away with a 67-50 win behind dominant performances from freshman forward Trey Lyles and Towns.
The Cats will need to be wary of Florida’s sophomore forward Dorian Finney-Smith after he went 4-for-9 from the three in route to a 23-point win over Alabama. Smith also scored double-digit points in both games against UK, going 5-for-11 from the floor for 12 points at Rupp, and 6-for-10 for 16 points in Gainesville.
With Flordia’s inability to control UK’s post players, the Gators must find a way to create open looks from the perimeter to have a chance to defeat the nation’s No. 1 ranked defense and put a stop to the Cats’ historic undefeated run.
