LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky men's basketball team attempted to finish their regular season by weaving a familiar tale: a first-half deficit erased by an improbable comeback. Saturday's senior day bid came up short, as No. 5 Florida proved too much to overcome. The Gators won 84-77 inside Rupp Arena, completing the regular season sweep over the Wildcats.
Kentucky ends the regular season with a 19-12 overall record (10-8 in the SEC) and a 14-4 mark at home. Mark Pope is now 1-2 against the Gators , 0-2 this season.
Otega Oweh had a spectacular senior day, finishing with 28 points, including 4-8 shooting from beyond-the-arc and an 8-8 showing from the free throw line. He finished the regular season with 30 double-figure outings, while scoring 20 or more in 14 of UK's 18 SEC contests this season.
Through two years in blue-and-white, Oweh has scored in double digits in 63 of his 67 games.
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His fellow senior, Denzel Aberdeen, didn't have the night he was surely hoping for against his former team, but Kentucky's starting point guard finished as UK's second-leading scorer, with 15 points on 4-13 shooting (1-6 from deep). 11 of his points came in the second half as the Cats pushed for an upset.
Florida's Thomas Haugh paced the Gators with 20. The visitors shot 46 percent from the field, 44 from the three-point line and 63 from the charity stripe, compared to a 39/35/81 split by the Wildcats.
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Things soured quickly for the Wildcats, who fell behind 11-0 in the game's open minutes. Pope was forced to call his first timeout before the under-16 media break to steady his team.
Andrija Jelavic got Kentucky on the board after the team's 0-7 start from the field, and the comeback started right away. The Cats chipped away at it, using defense to force Florida into a three-minute scoring drought.
During that stretch, both Mo Dioubate and Oweh drained triples, as the Cats got as close as one point on two separate occasions: 18-17, after Oweh's second successful three-pointer of the afternoon, and 20-19, following Garrison's dunk.
On the following possession, however, the Gators got things right, erupting for a 13-0 run from which the Cats would never recover. During that stretch, Kentucky turned the ball over three times, while the visitors went 5-for-5 from the field over the course of two minutes and 20 seconds.
A third three-point basket by Oweh stopped the bleeding, but Florida refused to cool. Both teams huddled for the under-four timeout with the Gators up 41-25, having made nine of their last 10 field-goal attempts.
Kentucky's 00 would sink one final three before the break, entering the locker room with 17 first-half points. The team's next-highest scorer was Dioubate, who had five points. Aberdeen recorded just four points in the first 20 minutes while Collin Chandler was yet to score, as Florida took a 49-32 advantage with them into halftime.
The red-hot Gators shot 64 percent from the field, 60 percent from 3 (6-10) and 64 percent from the free throw line in the first half.
They hardly cooled in the second. The Gators struck first out of the break, stretching their lead to 19 points with just a minute off the second-half clock. The lead grew to as many as 20 with just under 10 minute to play.
Still, the Cats did not quit.
Kentucky chipped away at it, getting back within ten with 3:53 remaining in the game. An Aberdeen jumper cut it to single digits, 76-68, an Oweh layup got Kentucky within seven, 77-70, a Moreno dunk got the Cats within six, 78-72 and Oweh's flawless 3-3 trip to the free-throw line after being fouled beyond-the-arc made it a five-point game, 80-75.
The teams traded free throws for the game's final minute, but the Cats would get no closer.
After torching Kentucky with guard play in the teams' first meeting this season, Florida head coach Todd Golden had his front court apply the pressure in Saturday's second meeting. The Gators outscored Kentucky 38-32 in the paint, including a 24-10 edge in the first half, while crushing the Cats in transition, 24-4.
The Wildcats outscored the No. 5 visitors in the second half 45-35, but it was too little, too late for the home team.
Kentucky now awaits the remainder of Saturday's SEC slate to learn its fate for the SEC Tournament. With Saturday's loss, the Cats are most likely to play on the conference tournament's opening day - Wednesday, March 11th - as either the No. 9 or No. 10 seed.
For the latest on the tournament seeding and more on Kentucky basketball, join us on BBN Tonight, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18, and follow our social media pages, @BBNTonight.
