First Scouting Report: Can Kentucky complete a season sweep of Florida?
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Game day: No. 7 Kentucky 83, Mississippi 72
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Ole Miss in Rupp Arena.
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 7 Kentucky (24-6, 13-4 SEC) will face Florida (19-11, 9-8 SEC) on Saturday at Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center (seating capacity 10,133).
The SEC game will tip off at 2 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by CBS.
Coach Mike White’s Gators won 82-78 at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Florida 106-41 and has won six of the past seven meetings.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe scored 27 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and made three steals to lead the Wildcats to a 78-57 victory over Florida on Feb. 12 at Rupp Arena.
Power rankings
Through Monday’s games, the NCAA’s NET Rankings had Kentucky No. 5 and Florida No. 51.
The Kenpom Rankings rated UK No. 2 and Florida No. 54.
Kentucky stood No. 5 in the Sagarin Ratings with Florida No. 40.
Know your foe
1. Since losing to Kentucky in Lexington, Florida has gone 3-2.
In the contest immediately after the loss in Rupp Arena, the Gators suffered a dispiriting 56-55 loss at Texas A&M that snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Aggies.
Florida followed that up with its best victory of the season, a 63-62 upset of then-No. 2 Auburn in Gainesville.
The Gators have subsequently lost 82-74 at home vs. then-No. 18 Arkansas, won 84-72 at SEC bottom-dweller Georgia and rallied to win 82-78 at Vanderbilt.
2. To end its regular season with a victory, Kentucky will need to overcome what should be a desperate Florida team.
If ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s projections are even close to reality, the Gators might need to tame the Wildcats to extend their season.
Lunardi has Florida on his “next four out” list and ranked sixth among those teams outside the NCAA Tournament field of 68.
A home win over UK to couple with its upset of Auburn this month would be humongous in boosting the UF tourney résumé.
3. In 13 meetings with Kentucky, Mike White is 4-9 against the Wildcats. As UK head man, John Calipari is 20-9 against Florida.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 9:00 PM.
