LEXINGTON, KY (352today.com) – UPDATE 1/31, 10:23 p.m.: The Gators were able to secure a huge victory over the Kentucky Wildcats winning in overtime 94-91.
Some key players for Florida were Tyrese Samuel with 22 points and 13 rebounds, Zyon Pullin with 21 points and 7 rebounds, and Walter Clayton Jr. finishing off with 23 points.
The Gators will now prepare to take on Texas A&M Saturday in College Station.
ORIGINAL 1/31, 12:59 p.m.: The Florida Gators are looking to end January on a good note with a win over the 10th ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday.
They are hoping to silence Kentucky considering the fact that the last time two faced off, the Wildcats beat the Gators at home by just two points with a final score of 85-87.
Florida’s momentum is high coming off three consecutive wins and their last one being over a big rival Georgia with a 102-98 win in overtime Saturday.
On top of that, the Gators had five players reach double digits with Micah Handlogten putting up 23 points, Zyon Pullin with 20 points, Will Richard and Walter Clayton each with 18 points, and Alex Condron with 10 points. Tyrese Samuel also put up 8 points and had 8 rebounds.
The Gators are feeling pretty confident headed into Wednesday night’s game which will be held in the Wildcat’s Rupp Arena. A challenge surely presents itself with Florida only winning eleven out of their 54 games in Lexington in program history.
Samuel stated in a news conference Tuesday that he understands the task at hand.
“I heard it’s crazy there and I heard it’s going to be loud. It’s going to be an intense game so I’m excited,” said Samuel. “The opportunity is big; we came short last time unfortunately but I think we’re ready. I think we understand what we did wrong the last game and I think that we’re going to be ready and have a way to execute to win this game.”
Head coach Todd Golden also knows the challenge that this competitive road game brings.
“It’s a great venue, historic in our game. I feel like every road venue in our league is really tough to play in. You know the thing about Kentucky, it’s just really big,” Golden told reporters on Tuesday.
Golden added that last year in Rupp a big factor for them was how loud the crowd was, and a key component for his team this time will be blocking out the noise and controlling their pace.
There’s no secret that Kentucky has been dominating the Southeastern Conference for years. A win for Florida would put them in great position giving them a four-game winning streak. It would also serve as good preparation for some other challenging conference games ahead.
Coach Golden knows that for them, it’s bigger than just Wednesday’s game.
“Every game is a resume game one way or the other. For us to get to the tournament, we’re going to have to win some of these games as we all know. So I’m not necessarily stressing the importance of one over another in particular,” added Golden. “This is more just about a good road game opportunity against a team that you know we played really well against here.”
The two will face off in Kentucky 8:00 p.m. eastern time. You can catch the game on ESPN.
LOOKING AHEAD: After the game in Kentucky, the Gators head to College Station to take on the Aggies on February 3. Afterwards, they’ll host Auburn and LSU at home. Click here to take a look at Florida’s full schedule for the rest of the season.