Statement made: Florida basketball gets rare win at Rupp, knocks off No. 8 Kentucky in OT
Florida basketball broke through with its first statement win of the season in a big way Wednesday night, upsetting No. 8 Kentucky 94-91 in overtime at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
The Florida Gators (15-6, 5-3 SEC) not only won their fourth straight, put picked up their first Quad 1 win of the season and first win on the road against a Top 10 ranked team since beating No. 7 Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., in 2003.
Florida won for the just the sixth time in its last 26 trips to Rupp Arena.
Walter Clayton Jr. led three UF scorers in double figures with 23 points, with Tyrese Samuel adding 22 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Point guard Zyon Pullin had 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
“I wouldn’t say a program-maker," Clayton said. "It definitely helps, but me and the guys have been saying all year it’s us versus us. We know what we’re capable of, and tonight we came out and showed that.”
Kentucky (15-5, 5-3 SEC) could have won the game in regulation, but freshman guard Rob Dillingham made just one of two free throws with 13 seconds left to put the Wildcats up 84-81. Of the free throw miss, Clayton Jr. sank a transition 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining, tying the score at 84 and forcing OT.
"Walt said, got his defender up in the air, slide-stepped," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "That’s a great shot for him. Any shot he gets up, we feel like is a really good shot for our team."
From there, Florida took control in overtime, with Clayton Jr. putting Florida ahead to stay 89-87 on its seventh 3-pointer of the game with 1:42 remaining. The Gators improved to 3-0 in OT on the season and avenged an 87-85 home loss to the Wildcats earlier this season.
"Once we got it to overtime, it kind of felt like we were playing with house money at that point," Golden said. "We weren’t nervous about anything. It was a five-minute game. Obviously, if you’d asked us coming into it tonight, would you have taken a five-minute game to determine the winner, we would have said absolutely."
Kentucky was without two freshman starting guards — D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards — who sat out the game with leg injuries. Freshman guard Reed Sheppard led the Wildcats with 24 points.
Tourney hopes: Where Florida basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket projections
Taming the Dawgs: Too close for comfort: Florida basketball survives second half meltdown against UGA
Kentucky led by as many as 10 points in the first half, going up 41-31 on a runner in the lane by Sheppard with 1:10 left in the half. But Florida closed the half on a 5-0 running, getting a 3-pointer from Pullin and transition layup from Richard to cut Kentucky's lead to 41-36 at halftime.
The Gators shot just 36.4 percent from the field in the first half, compared to 45.7 percent shooting for the Wildcats.
Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:
Florida basketball wins the game at the 3-point line
The Gators came up with timely shots at Rupp Arena, making 10 of their first 19 3-point attempts and shooting 42.9 percent (12-28) from 3-point range. Kentucky shot 38.5 percent (10-26) from 3-point range, but Florida tightened up defensively from 3-point range as the game progressed, allowing the Wildcats to shoot just 4-15 from 3-point range in the second half and overtime.
UF basketball withstood Kentucky's physicality
Florida held a slim 50-48 edge on rebounds against Kentucky. Samuel came up with some big defensive rebounds in traffic down the stretch, as nine of his 13 rebounds were on the defensive glass. Kentucky center Ugonna Oneynso (13 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocks) was a problem inside but the Gators kept attacking the paint and came up with timely putbacks when they needed them.
The Florida Gators closed the game out at the FT line
After struggling at the free throw line in the first meeting with Kentucky, Florida had a third straight exceptional game at the charity stripe, making 18 of 22 free throw attempts. Pullin and Clayton went a combined 5 for 6 from the free throw line in overtime to close the game out.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida Gators basketball upsets No, 8 Kentucky Wildcats
