Florida coach Mike White knows his team is confident after their past three games.
To quickly summarize:
- A 106-71 road win over LSU in which the Gators hit a program-record 19 three-pointers.
- An 84-52 road win over Oklahoma in which Florida made 43 percent of its shots and held the Sooners to a lackluster 27.7 percent from the floor.
- And a 93-54 home win against Missouri on Thursday in which backup point guard Chris Chiozza posted just the fourth triple-double in program history (12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists).
"We are in a pretty good place," White said Friday.
But confidence alone isn't going to get it done on Saturday, when No. 24 Florida hosts eighth-ranked Kentucky for an 8:15 p.m. showdown in what will probably be the Gators' biggest home game of the year.
College GameDay will be in town. Students have already begun camping out outside to the arena to stake their entrance claim.
And the Gators (17-5, 7-2 SEC) know what a win over the Wildcats (18-4, 8-1 SEC) would do for their resume, especially considering the fact that Florida has lost all four of its games against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25.
"It’d be a huge breakthrough win for us," White said, "if we can get it done."
To get it done, though, Florida has to find a way to stop all the weapons Kentucky has on its roster.
There's Malik Monk, the sharpshooting freshman guard who is averaging 22.5 points per game (ninth best in the nation) and has already made 70 three-point baskets.
There's De'Aron Fox, the sophomore point guard who fills up the statsheet (15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game) and has a 2.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
And there's Edrice Adebayo, a 6-10 forward who is suffocating in the paint on both sides of the floor. The freshman is averaging 13.2 points per game on a 61.7-percent shooting efficiency and has blocked 36 shots.
“Kentucky has got more talent," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. "They’ve got lottery talent on their team so they’re the more talented group. But Florida is a really good defensive team. They play really hard and I think they’ve come a long way from last year."
For Florida to pull off the upset on its home court and defeat Kentucky for the first time since the 2013-14 season when UF made it all the way to the Final Four, Bilas said the Gators will need to continue their staunch defensive effort and have a strong offensive night from shooting guard KeVaughn Allen.
Allen, a reserved and quiet sophomore with a knack for draining shots, is UF's top scorer at 13.6 points per game. He has five 20+-point scoring games this year, boasts a team-best 40.3-percent shooting efficiency from beyond the arc and has made 85.1-percent of his free throws.
But Allen at times lacks aggressiveness when on the court, opting to pass the ball to a teammate instead of taking an open shot or driving to the basket.
"When you are not a prolific scoring team," Bilas said, "your best scorer has got to score. If he's constantly looking to score, he opens things up for others and that's important."
White, on the other hand, isn't looking for just one player to step up. The second-year UF head coach knows it will take a full team effort to leave with a win.
"This is one of those teams," White said, "that you can still play pretty well and still not win."
Etc.
UF redshirt freshman Keith Stone (viral infection) is day-to-day heading into Saturday's game. He did not play on Thursday against Missouri. ... Canyon Barry, a graduate transfer and the son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry, has made 27 consecutive free throws heading into Saturday. ... Florida is 5-2 all time when playing a game where College GameDay is hosted, including 3-1 in Gainesville. All but one of those matchups came against Kentucky.
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