Washington’s 3rd straight double-double fuels UK’s comeback at Florida

Because PJ Washington continued his personal roll, so did Kentucky on Saturday.

Washington led a second-half comeback that gave UK a 65-54 victory at Florida. The Cats had trailed 42-31 with less than 13 minutes to go.

Over the next 11-plus minutes, Kentucky outscored Florida 26-6. Washington was omnipresent in game’s dramatic turnaround. He scored. He rebounded. He passed.

A pass out of a double-team in the low post set up a corner three-pointer by Tyler Herro that put the Cats ahead 55-48 and deflated what had been a raucous Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center.

Kentucky, which won for the eighth straight time, improved to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference.

Herro led UK with 19 points. Washington posted his third straight double-double, this time with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Florida, which was among the first four out of Joe Lundari’s latest NCAA Tournament bracket, fell to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. The Gators led for 31 minutes and 25 seconds.

The Gators hung in there despite its two top scorers — freshman KeVaughn Allen and freshman Noah Locke — combining to make only seven of 27 shots (three of 13 from three-point range).

Except for Herro and Washington, Kentucky made only five of 22 shots in the first half. That included one of 11 shooting from three-point range.

That Herro didn’t miss any of his four shots (including two threes) and Washington made three of eight prevented Kentucky from trailing by more than the 33-29 halftime score.

Still, Kentucky faced its biggest halftime deficit since Duke outscored the Cats 59-42 before intermission on opening night.

Kentucky, which led for only two minutes and 24 seconds of the first half, had trailed at halftime only four times previously this season.

Thanks to the poor shooting, the first half here bore no resemblance to the 45-15 first-half smothering of Vanderbilt four nights earlier.

Those looking for omens could point to Keldon Johnson going to the bench with 16:42 left after getting his first two shots blocked. He made one of six in the half.

Herro’s shooting kept Kentucky close. A charging call sent him to the bench with two fouls at the 5:32 mark. Thereafter, Florida outscored UK 14-9 to take the halftime lead.

The exception to the 0-for-10 shooting by UK players other than Herro seemed big.

With 36 seconds left, Immanuel Quickley hit a corner three off a pass from the post by Washington whittled into UK’s largest first-half deficit (33-26) and set the halftime score.

Kentucky did not respond with authority early in the second half. After a Hagans turnover led to a Locke corner three-pointer in transition, UK was down 38-31. That matched the largest deficit so far and prompted a timeout with 17:15 left.

The deficit grew to 42-31 on Jalen Hudson’s driving layup with 13:56 left.

Washington led a charge. Fouled on a post-up, he made a free throw. Then he tipped in a missed shot. Then he rebounded a Florida miss.

When Johnson hit a corner three, Kentucky had scored six straight points to reduce the deficit to 42-37.

The run reached 10-0 when Herro made two free throws with 9:15 left.

Florida did not wilt. An ill-advised foul by EJ Montgomery allowed slumping Hudson to shoot three free throws. He made two to put Florida ahead 46-43 with 8:05 left.

Kentucky reached the summit of a seemingly game-long mountain climb with 4:53 left. A corner three by Johnson in transition put UK ahead 50-48. That marked the Cats’ first lead since the 3:50 mark of the first half. It was also UK’s largest lead to that point.

This story was originally published February 2, 2019 at 6:08 PM.