Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s improbable victory at Florida
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 71-70 victory over the Florida Gators at the O’Connell Center on Saturday afternoon:
1. There is no give-up in this team
By all rights, the Cats could have easily thrown in the towel when they fell behind the host Gators by 18 points with a little over 11 minutes left in the regular-season finale. After all, the Cats were without point guard Ashton Hagans, who didn’t make the trip because of personal reasons. Immanuel Quickley was in foul trouble, and ended up fouling out. Even Coach John Calipari nearly got the heave-ho when he picked up his second technical foul. Fortunately for Cal, the first tech was for being outside the coaching box.
But this team doesn’t quit. No way, no how. When asked often this season what he likes about this particular team, the Kentucky coach has talked about its “will to win” and that was certainly in evidence on Saturday. When the Cats finally got it into gear, they scored on 13 straight possessions in the second half, turning a 57-41 lead into a 68-67 anybody’s game with 2:29 remaining.
From there, as Florida Coach Mike White said afterward, Kentucky made the plays to win. Keion Brooks’ bucket with 1:01 left cut the Florida lead to 70-69. And then when the UK defense turned it up a notch and forced the Gators into a shot clock violation with 27 seconds left, UK got a tip-in by EJ Montgomery with 11.6 seconds remaining for the 71-70 lead. And the game.
2. Players got confidence-builders for the post-season
In case you haven’t heard, the SEC Tournament starts Wednesday in Nashville. (Kentucky plays on Friday.) Selection Sunday is this coming Sunday. After that comes the Big Dance, you know, the NCAA Tournament.
Without Hagans on Saturday, Kentucky was down to seven available scholarship players, or ones who have played regularly throughout the season. When Quickley fouled out with 9:04 left, the Cats were down to six. That meant all six had to contribute. And did they contribute.
Start with Keion Brooks, the reserve freshman forward who scored 10 points in 27 minutes, including that previously mentioned clutch basket down the stretch. Calipari said he purposely went to Brooks on that play because the Indiana native was playing well. And it worked.
And then there was Johnny Juzang, who logged a career-high 33 minutes. Juzang was four of six from the floor, including two of four from three-point range. Juzang also had two assists and committed just one turnover in those 33 minutes.
Meanwhile, Nate Sestina contributed nine points, six rebounds and a steal in is 27 minutes. He had a key putback basket and was one of two from three-point range.
Surely those performances should act as confidence-builders at just the right time for a team in which Calipari has said will only go as far as Montgomery, Sestina, Brooks and Juzang take it.
3. So what’s going on with Ashton Hagans?
Just a week ago one of the storylines about this team was the excellent team chemistry, how teammates liked teammates, how they ate together, laughed together, worked together and won together. And the came the second half last Tuesday when a 17-point lead over Tennessee melted into a shocking loss in the home finale.
During that second half, Hagans was seen exchanging words on the bench with Calipari, and on the floor with Richards. Calipari and the players blew off the controversy as “heat of the moment” things that happen when a team is frustrated. And certainly there was plenty of frustration in that second half against Tennessee.
But then came the buzz Saturday morning that something was going on with Hagans, who was rumored to not have made the trip to Gainesville. And, sure enough, just before tipoff, Calipari tweeted that Hagans had asked to step away from the team for a couple of days for personal reasons.
As to what’s really going on? Who knows. As Cal said Saturday the players are under a lot of pressure. No doubt about that. It’s no secret that Hagans has struggled with his game down the stretch. He’s just 6-for-23 from the floor over the last two games. And turnovers continue to be a problem. He’s also a sophomore with NBA aspirations. Is he putting too much pressure on himself?
Either way, even with Saturday’s outcome, it says here the Cats need a good, healthy Ashton Hagans in the postseason. They need his on-ball defense, his quick hands, and his point guard play on offense. The hope is they will get it back, starting Friday in Music City.
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
