Saturday, February 5, 2011

Parsons leads Florida over No. 10 Kentucky 70-68

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Chandler Parsons scored 17 points, Alex Tyus made two big defensive plays late and Florida beat No. 10 Kentucky 70-68 Saturday night.

The Gators, who have struggled from the free-throw line all season, went 18 of 22 from the stripe and hit some clutch ones late.

Erving Walker hit both ends of two one-and-ones in the closing minutes. His final free throw put Florida (18-5, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) ahead for good. Tyus followed with a baseline hook shot and Parsons added a free throw with 12.7 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats (16-6, 4-4) had a final chance, but Brandon Knight's 3-pointer came up short. Tyus had a hand in Knight's face. Tyus also guarded Terrence Jones tight down the stretch, forcing a miss with about a minute left.

Knight led Kentucky with 24 points. Jones added 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Wildcats lost consecutive games for the first time under coach John Calipari. In fact, it's the first Calipari-coached team to lose two straight since Memphis dropped four in a row in the 2004-05 season.

With the victory, along with Tennessee's loss to Alabama, the Gators opened up a 1 1/2-game lead in the East. Kentucky is two games back at the midway point.

Florida certainly will be ranked again after knocking off No. 23 Vanderbilt earlier this week.
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The Gators got this one going with a strong second half. They opened the second half with an 11-4 run that gave coach Billy Donovan's team a little breathing room, 45-36.

Florida built a 13-point lead on Vernon Macklin's dunk, Parsons' 3-pointer and five free throws - yes, the team that has struggled from the stripe all season made five in a row.

But the Wildcats clawed back from the double-digit deficit - most of it thanks to Knight.

The freshman point guard, playing against former AAU teammates Kenny Boynton, got the Wildcats rolling.

He started the comeback with a pair of free throws, then hit back-to-back 3s. He dished to Terrence Jones for a 3, hit two more from the stripe and then found Darius Miller all alone on the wing for another 3-pointer.