The Florida Gators are on the NCAA Tournament bubble and likely have to upset the Kentucky Wildcats to secure a spot. The Gators blew a chance to improve their chances with an overtime loss to LSU in their last game and need some good fortune to get in. The Cats are hobbling down the stretch, though they have won two of three. They sandwiched a pair of four-point wins around a big loss to Tennessee, leaving the Cats a game off the lead heading into the final regular season tilt.
Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats
Date and Time: Saturday, March 9, 2019, 2 p.m. ET
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
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Florida at Kentucky TV Coverage: CBS
Live Betting Odds Analysis
Florida looked like a lock for the Dance a week ago, riding a five-game winning streak into a matchup with cellar-dweller Georgia. The game can be cruel sometimes and it was to the Gators, who fell to the Bulldogs, 61-55, as an 11-point home favorite. Maybe the Gators were looking ahead to their season-ending stretch against a pair of top-10 teams, because there was no reason they should have lost that game. The problems were compounded by an extra time loss to LSU, leaving Florida in need of a big win or two to impress the committee.
Looking to bounce back from an awful performance against Tennessee, the Wildcats used a gritty effort to get past Ole Miss, 80-76, to keep their hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament alive. It wasn’t a flashy performance, but UK used an efficient offense to get back in the win column, improving to 22-5 overall. The record has been bolstered by an impressive 16-1 mark at home with the only loss coming to LSU on a controversial tip in at the final buzzer.
Last Meeting
It was another close call for the Gators, who led by 11 with about 13 minutes to play in the second half. Another cold spell shooting the basketball, or was it Kentucky locking down with the game on the line? Either way, the Gators managed just 12 points over the final 14 minutes and scored 21 in the second half, squandering a chance to pick up a resume-building win. “For 30 minutes we played well enough to beat a terrific team that’s playing really well. We just couldn’t hold on,” UF coach Mike White said.
UK’s early deficit was partly because P.J. Washington spent a good portion of the first half on the bench with foul trouble. Washington ended the nigh with 15 points and 12 rebounds, Tyler Herro added 19 points hitting 3 of 4 from deep, including a back-breaker late in the stanza.
But it was the defense that sparked the comeback, holding the Gators to 9 of 33 shooting in the second half and just 1 of 9 from three-point range. The Cats used a 14-0 run over a five minute stretch to turn the game around, and they cruised to the finish line.
Player to Watch
Kentucky has an abundance of talent, but Washington is the ring leader and poses a matchup problem for every team he faces. At 6-8 Washington has a polished inside game, and he also has the skill to play on the perimeter, opening up the floor for his teammates. A candidate for the SEC Player of the Year, Washington is averaging 14.9 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor overall and 43.5 percent from deep.
Sent to the bench in the first half with foul trouble in his last game, Washington responded by scoring all 13 of his points after halftime. P.J. got some help, too. Keldon Johnson scored 22 points and Herro tacked on 20 as the Cats shot 55.4 percent for the game to hold off the Rebels.
College Basketball Live Betting Picks
Suffering through long stretches of offensive ineptitude is a problem that’s plagued the Gators all season. They shoot 42.2 percent from the field as a team and they average less than 69 points per game, which doesn’t get it done against some of the better teams in the league. And that’s why the Gators are likely headed to the NIT rather than the NCAA Tournament. The recent play of Jalen Hudson, who scored 33 in an overtime loss to LSU, is encouraging, but even then the Gators don’t have enough firepower to stick with the Cats, making the home team a cover pick on the college basketball betting lines.
College Basketball Score Prediction: Kentucky 75, Florida 62
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