College basketball final: Kentucky Wildcats 87, Florida Gators 85

The men’s basketball version of SEC play is finally here and John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats get their first taste of conference play on Saturday when they visit the Florida Gators at Exactech Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ESPN has the television coverage with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call.

Ranked No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25, Kentucky is 10-2. Florida is 10-3 overall. The Gators are riding a six-game win streak.

Cameron Drummond, Silas Walker and yours truly will be providing live updates from courtside. Follow us on Twitter/X at @cdrummond97, @sigh_las and @johnclayiv.

Follow a dedicated Kentucky basketball list on Twitter/X by clicking here.

Final: Kentucky 87, Florida 85

Kentucky made 8 of 10 free throws over the final 1:04 to register a come-from-behind 87-85 win over Florida in the SEC opener for both teams.

Antonio Reeves led the Cats with 19 points. Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner each scored 14.

Final box

Kentucky 83, Florida 81 with 15.3 left

Calipari kicked the scorer’s table with Florida’s Zyan Pullin scored on a three-point play with 30.5 seconds left, but Kentucky has managed to stay in front as we hit the final moments.

Bradshaw’s 3 puts Kentucky up 79-76

Aaron Bradshaw nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Kentucky a 79-76 lead with 1:21 left. It is UK’s first lead since 51-49 with 15:22 left.

We’re tied at 74-74 with 3:10 left

Florida and Kentucky both now in the double bonus as Cats and Gators are tied at 74 with 3:10 left. Walter Clayton leads Florida with 23 points. It’s been a tough second half for UK’s Tre Mitchell. After scoring 12 points with eight rebounds in the first half, Mitchell has not scored in the second half. D.J. Wagner’s basket for the Cats tied the game at 74.

Florida 65, Kentucky 61 with 7:49 left

Gators clinging to a 65-61 lead with 7:49 remaining. Both teams are in the bonus, but Kentucky is giving away points. Both Reed Sheppard and Antonio Reeves missed the front end of one-and-ones. UK is 7-of-13 from the foul line. Florida is 11-of-20.

Florida 58, Kentucky 54 with 11:51 left

The Gators’ Walter Clayton leads Florida with 17 points. He’s a transfer from Iona where he played for Rick Pitino. In fact, many felt Clayton would follow Pitino to St. John’s but he transferred to Florida instead.

After a hot second-half start, the Cats have cooled considerably. They’ve missed six of their last seven shots. Antonio Reeves leads UK with 14 points. D.J. Wagner has 12.

Kentucky opens second half on 11-4 run

The Wildcats have cut Florida’s lead to 49-48 with 15:57 left in the game. Antonio Reeves and D.J. Wagner got the second half off to a a quick start with buckets to chop the Gators lead down to four points at 45-41. Kentucky has made five of its eight shots so far this second half.

Halftime: Florida 45, Kentucky 37

Walter Clayton scored 14 points and Riley Kugel added 11 as Florida led Kentucky 45-37 at the half. Tre Mitchell led Kentucky with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Florida shot 44.7 percent from the floor in the first half, including 8-of-20 from three-point range. Kentucky shot 46.9 percent the first half, but the Cats were 1-of-10 from three-point range. UK was credited with just two assist on its 15 made field goals.

This is just the second time this season the Cats have trailed at the half. UNC Wilmington led Kentucky 41-33 at the break on Dec. 2 at Rupp Arena. The visitors proceeded to pull off the 80-73 shocker.

Halftime box

Florida now up double digits

The Gators got on a 9-2 run for a 36-29 lead with 4:53 left in first half as Calipari calls time. UK came out of the timeout and Rob Dillingham missed a three. Then Tre Mitchell missed a three. Then Dillingham committed his fourth turnover of the first half. Meanwhile, Florida’s Walter Clayton nailed a three for a 39-29 Gators lead. There’s 3:27 left in the first half.

With 3:27 left in the half, Kentucky has just one assist.

Florida the more physical team early

Talking to Florida writers before the game, they said the Gators are much more physical than recent editions. That’s showing up to this point. Gators up 16-10 as Kentucky’s John Calipari calls time with 12:19 left in first half.

UK has committed four turnovers to just one for Florida. Rob Dillingham committed back-to-back turnovers. Florida is on an 8-0 run.

Kentucky and Florida tied 8-8 at first TV timeout

Kentucky is 3-of-7 from the floor while the Gators are 4-of-11 from the floor. Neither team has made a three-pointer. Kentucky is 0-for-3. Florida is 0-for-2. Neither side is happy with the officials.

Kentucky basketball roster

Kentucky basketball statistics

Florida basketball roster

Florida basketball statistics

Kentucky-Florida officials

Officials for Kentucky-Florida are Terry Oglesby, Olandis Poole and Vladimir Voyard-Tadal.

Oglesby worked UK’s 89-84 loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic and the Cats’ overtime 96-88 win over Saint Joseph’s at Rupp Arena. Poole worked Kentucky’s 80-73 loss to visiting UNC Wilmington. Voyard-Tadal worked the Cats’ 118-82 blowout win over Marshall at Rupp.

Adou Thiero out for this game

Kentucky coach John Calipari said on his pregame show that Adou Theiro will not play against Florida. It’s the second straight game Thiero missed. He was also unavailable for the Cats’ win over Illinois State on Dec. 29 because of “general soreness.”

Thiero is averaging 7.6 points and 5.6 assits per game. He also missed the Texas A&M Commerce game on Nov. 10 because of a concussion.

Rebounding will be key to Kentucky-Florida

After Kentucky’s 96-70 victory over Illinois State, UK coach John Calipari was not happy with his team’s effort on the boards. And with good reason.

The visiting Redbirds grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and posted an offensive rebound percentage of 42.1. Only once last season did a UK opponent post a higher percentage — South Carolina at 51.7. It was the most offensive rebounds by a Kentucky foe since Stony Brook snatched 25 offensive boards in an 85-57 loss to Calipari’s Cats in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Now comes Florida. And the Gators hit the glass hard. Todd Golden’s team ranks fifth nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 41.3. Overall, Florida is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 45.4-34.2.

Tyrese Samuel, a 6-foot-10 Canadian who transferred in from Seton Hall, has posted six double-doubles on the season, including each of the last three games. Samuel 21 points and 11 rebounds in Florida’s 106-101 double-overtime win over Michigan. As a team, Kentucky has had three double-doubles this season — Adou Thiero’s 16 and 13 vs. Kansas; Tre Mitchell’s 18 and 12 at Louisville and Aaron Bradshaw’s 17 and 11 vs. Penn in Philadelphia.

Kentucky continues to excel beyond the arc

Heading into Friday night’s college basketball action, Kentucky ranked second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.6.

The Cats made 11 of their 25 3-point attempts in the win over Illinois State. That’s 44% and the eighth game (out of 13) in which Kentucky has attempted 20-plus shots from beyond the arc and hit at least 40%.

• Stonehill 17-of-32 shooting for 53.1%

• St. Joseph’s 12-of-25 shooting for 48.0%

• Marshall 16-of-27 shooting for 59.3%

• Miami 9-of-21shooting for 42.9%

• Penn 8-of-20 shooting for 40.0%

• Louisville 12-of-25 shooting for 48.0%

• Illinois State 11-of-25 shooting for 44.0%

Meanwhile, Florida ranks 219th in 3-point defense with opponents hitting 34.1% of their shots from behind the line. Baylor went 14-of-25 from 3 in its 95-91 win over the Gators.

Over his last two games, UK guard Antonio Reeves is 8-of-13 from 3-point land on the way to scoring a combined 57 points.

Kentucky in SEC openers in Calipari era

Since Calipari replaced the fired Billy Gillispie as UK’s coach, the Wildcats have gone 11-3 in SEC openers. The Cats are 9-5 in their SEC road openers, but have lost the last two. A closer look at those first road league games:

• 2009-10 - Won 89-77 at Florida

• 2010-11 - Lost 77-70 at Georgia

• 2011-12 - Won 68-53 at Auburn

• 2012-13 - Won 60-58 at Vanderbilt

• 2013-14 - Won 71-62 at Vanderbilt

• 2014-15 - Won 70-64 at Texas A&M in overtime

• 2015-16 - Lost 85-67 at LSU

• 2016-17 - Won 99-76 at Ole Miss

• 2017-18 - Won 74-71 at LSU

• 2018-19 - Lost 77-75 at Alabama

• 2019-20 - Won 78-69 at Georgia

• 2020-21 - Won 78-73 at Miss State in double overtime

• 2021-22 - Lost 65-60 at LSU

• 2022-23 - Lost 89-75 at Missouri

Kentucky has won five straight in Gainesville, including 82-74 last season. Florida’s last win over UK in the O-Dome was 80-67 on March 3, 2018. That Kentucky team lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Coached by Mike White, that Florida team lost 69-66 to Texas Tech in the second round of the Big Dance.

Kentucky is seeking its 50th SEC men’s basketball title, but does that still matter?

Everybody’s Super Bowl or Calipari bluster? Either way, UK’s season is about to get rowdy.

How will Kentucky stack up in the SEC? A closer look as league play tips off Saturday.

This is the final season of SEC basketball as we know it. How will it work in the future?

Kentucky’s Zvonimir Ivisic is back with the team. ‘They just need to free my guy.’