GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Down by four with nine minutes to go against the No. 1-ranked team in
the country and the home crowd about to blow the roof off the building.
Given
their depth problems and the pronounced discrepancy in talent, the No. 16
Florida Gators really could not have asked for much more in their showdown
Sunday against the powerful Kentucky Wildcats.
They
just needed much more.
Certainly
more than the four points they scored the rest of the way.
Freshman
forward Anthony Davis scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half,
grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked six shots and was smack in the middle of the
action as the Wildcats closed out the Gators for a 74-59 victory in front of a
sold-out O’Connell Center crowd of 12,113 at the regular-season finale for both
teams.
For
Florida (22-9, 10-6), the loss was its third straight and locked the Gators
into the No. 4 seed of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, which starts
Thursday in New Orleans. UF, with a bye in the opening round, will play the
winner of the first-day matchup between surging and fifth-seeded Alabama
(20-10) and bottom-seeded South Carolina (10-20).
“It’s a
new season,” forward Erik Murphy said.
The
Wildcats (30-1) won the old one going away, becoming the first team to go 16-0
in SEC play since UK did it in 2003.
“They
just have a really good team,” UF senior point guard Erving Walker said after
the final home game of his magnificent career. “In all facets.”
The
6-foot-10 Davis, a favorite to win National Player of the Year and be the top
choice in the NBA draft, made nine of 13 shots, scored off all three of his
offensive rebounds and patrolled the paint like the defensive centerpiece he’s
become for a team poised to make a run at the national championship.
UK
forward Terrence Jones scored 19 points, also on 9-for-13 shooting, and added
three blocks and a couple steals, while point guard Marquis Teague threw in 12
points and had four assists.
The
Gators got 21 points and nine rebounds from center Patric Young, who played his
finest all-around game of this season. Young, whose season has been marred with
inconsistency and too much talk about a six-week-old ankle injury, went
aggressively at UK’s all-star front line, making 10 of 15 shots in 35
minutes.
http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=22556
