GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 7 Kentucky got a 25th double-double from Oscar Tshiebwe and 13th in a row on the way to beating Florida, 71-63.
The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a couple of easy lay-ins by TyTy Washington and Keion Brooks. Then, Sahvir Wheeler followed it up with a three pointer. Kentucky would later go on a 9-0 run to build a 14 point lead at 25-11. Wheeler would extend it to 16 with 7:07 to go in the first half on a lay-up.
However, Florida would go on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to six with 2:29 to go in the first. But UK would push it back to double digits to lead 38-26 at the half.
Tshiebwe had the double-double by the half with 12 points, 11 rebounds. Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz combined for 13 points on an efficient 5-8 shooting from the field. The Wildcats shot 50% from the field while Florida struggled with 38%.
Florida started the second half strong scoring the first five points to get the lead down to seven. But Oscar scored the first 11 straight points in the half which included a steal at mid-court that he took for a slam as he was fouled for a three point play. Wheeler also went on his own scoring run scoring six straight points.
Tshiebwe finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds. Wheeler (13), Grady (11) and Davion Mintz (10) also finished in double figures. Toppin was second in rebounding with 6 while Washington led UK with 5 assists and Wheeler added 4.
Colin Castleton had a big game for the Gators with 23 points, 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats finish 25-6 overall on the season, 14-4 in the SEC which was tied for second place in the league. But with a tiebreaker they'll have the three seed in next week's SEC Tournament down in Tampa, Florida. The Cats will play on Friday at 8:30 against an opponent still to be determined.
