Kentucky vs Florida……Preview 2

Lwcat
WT Administrator

Kentucky vs Florida……Preview 2
3/7/10-Sunday at 12PMEST/11AMCST
TV-CBS

Florida

Location-Gainesville
Enrollment-51,520
Arena-12,000

Head Coach-Billy Donovan
Career Record-345-146 (70.3%) 15 seasons
At Florida-310-126 (71.1%) 13 seasons

2008-09 Record-25-11
2008-09 SEC Record-9-7
2008-09 Postseason-NIT-1-1

2009-10 Record-20-10
2009-10 SEC Record-9-6

Florida 74 Stetson 46
Florida 69 Georgia Southern 49
Florida 80 Troy 58
Florida 68 Florida State 52
Florida 77 Michigan St. 74
Florida 73 Rutgers 58
Florida 80 Florida A&M 59
Florida 85 Jacksonville 67
Syracuse 85 Florida 73
Richmond 56 Florida 53
South Alabama 67 Florida 66
Florida 76 American U. 60
Florida 79 Presbyterian 38
Florida 62 NC St. 61 (OT)
Vanderbilt 95 Florida 87
Kentucky 89 Florida 77
Florida 72 LSU 58
Florida 71 Arkansas 66
Florida 58 South Carolina 56
Florida 87 Georgia 71
Tennessee 61 Florida 60
Florida 66 Alabama 65
Florida 69 Mississippi St. 62
South Carolina 77 Florida 71
Xavier 76 Florida 64
Florida 78 Auburn 70
Florida 64 Ole Miss 61
Florida 75 Tennessee 62
Georgia 78 Florida 76
Vanderbilt 64 Florida 60

Florida Stats / UK Stats

PPG-71.7 / 79.9
FG%-44.4% / 47.8%
3 Point FG%-30.8% / 34.6%
FT%-70.6% / 68.1%
Rebounds-37.2 / 41.9
Assists-14.2 / 14.9
TO’s-12.3 / 14.7
Steals-7.3 / 7.3
Blocks-2.7 / 7.2

Probable Starting Lineup

Chandler Parsons F-6’9”” Jr. (PPG-12.0)
Alex Tyus F-6’8” Soph (PPG-11.8)
Vernon Macklin C-6’10” Jr. (PPG-10.7)
Erving Walker G-5’8” Soph (PPG-12.7)
Kenny Boynton G-6’2” Fr. (PPG-13.5)

Other Key Players

Dan Werner F-6’8” Sr. (PPG-4.8)
Erik Murphy F-6’9” Fr. (PPG-3.4)
Ray Shipman G/F 6’5” Soph (PPG-2.5)

Coach Billy Donovan brings his Florida Gators into Rupp Arena hoping to get an upset win over the highly ranked Cats….so that Florida can return to the NCAA after two disappointing years playing in the NIT. The Gators have quality wins over Michigan St. and Tennessee, but recent losses to Georgia and Vandy have placed Florida on the NCAA bubble. Certainly, a win over UK in Rupp Arena would be huge for Florida’s NCAA resume….but, a loss….will likely mean that Florida would have to virtually win the SEC tourney to garner an NCAA bid….of course, a lot depends on how other bubble teams finish their season.

Florida has shown improvement this season and they have a solid starting five….all scoring in double figures. However, the Gators haven’t got much help off the bench in most games. Importantly, Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons are both shooting 50% and both lead the team in rebounds. Guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker are the primary 3 point shooters….but, while Boynton is shooting only 27.4% from the perimeter…..Walker has shot much better hitting 35.8% from long range. Walker leads the Gators in both assists and steals. Tyus, Parsons and Macklin give the Gators plenty of good size in the paint and all three frontline players are very active in the paint…..both scoring and rebounding. Walker is only 5’8”, if that, but he is both quick and clever offensively.

Florida only losses one senior and that is Dan Werner who was recruited by UK when he decided to transfer from N.C. State….in the end he chose Florida. Unfortunately, although Werner has played some good defense in his career at Florida, he fell short in the offense he was supposed to bring to the Gators. Werner has had problems shooting the ball and his average this season is a lowly 4.8 PPG. Regardless of whether Florida makes the NCAA this season, Billy Donovan will be returning all five starters and adding some very nice recruits….so the future looks bright next season for the Gators.

UK welcomes the Florida Gators for Senior Day at Rupp Arena. The Cats will say good-bye to Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris, Mark Krebs and Patrick Patterson. Patterson, although not a senior, will graduate this year….his junior year. Although Patterson hasn’t said for certain that he won’t return, UK decided to include him because he will graduate and secondly…he will most likely go to the NBA. UK will also be entertaining some big time recruits. Senior Day is always a big day at Rupp Arena…. the Cats want to continue their undefeated season at Rupp Arena and keep their likely #1 seed in the NCAA alive.

UK fans will want to show their deep appreciation to Stevenson and Harris who, except for this season, started and played a lot of basketball for the Cats. Of course, Patterson will leave a huge mark at UK as one of the very best players in UK’s long great history. Mark Krebs obviously could have gone to a smaller college and played a lot of basketball, but he chose to be at UK where certainly in practice he helped prepare his teammates for games. All these kids did UK proud and I’m certain that they will be saluted by a great Rupp crowd for all their contributions to the UK program.

At Georgia, UK finally got out of their perimeter shooting slump and defeated a tough Bulldog team on their home court. Now, UK hopes to finish the regular season with a 2nd win over Florida this season. Look for a huge and intense effort from Florida because they want an NCAA bid in the worst way. The Cats will need to match that intensity. A win over Florida would give UK a tremendous 29-2 record….that would be a terrific way to end the regular season and prepare for the SEC tourney in Nashville…and then, of course, the true goal….an NCAA championship!

I see a UK sweep of the Gators….winning by 10 points. GO CATS!