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Late misses spell doom for Gators

UK 70, UF 68: Kentucky makes key shots, Florida doesn't in tight battle.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 30, 2002

GAINESVILLE -- It was the kind of game that brought out famous faces such as Tracy McGrady, Mike Miller and Ashley Judd and made ESPN's marketing executives seem like geniuses for calling it part of "Rivalry Week."

It was the kind of game you would expect from top 10 teams battling for national respect and the SEC East title, the kind with six ties and five lead changes.

And in the end, it was the kind of game in which missed free throws were costly and clutch shooting made all the difference.

In a game that featured three ties in the final five minutes, Kentucky outlasted Florida 70-68 Tuesday night in front of 12,212 at the O'Connell Center.

No. 5 Florida (15-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) has lost three consecutive games for the first time since February 1998. Tenth-ranked Kentucky (17-5, 4-3) rebounded from a three-point loss to Alabama on Saturday to tie the Gators for second place.

"I really couldn't be prouder of our guys," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "They overcame a lot this week, and I thought our starters really set the tone, especially being aggressive on the boards. We probably could have put it away a little sooner, but we did all the things we had to do."

And Florida didn't do what it needed, especially down the stretch.

Although eight of Florida center Udonis Haslem's 14 points were from the free-throw line, he missed two free throws with 30 seconds left that would have pulled the Gators within 69-68.

When Kentucky forward Tayshaun Prince missed a free throw with 24 seconds left, Gators guard Orien Greene came down and dunked with 13 seconds left to pull the Gators within one.

After UK's Keith Bogans missed two free throws to keep it at 69-68, UF had a chance to win. But with the game on the line and three seconds remaining, Florida forward Brett Nelson (game-high 15 points) missed a jumper from the right side, and Kentucky held on.

"At times, we constantly shoot ourselves in the foot and we create too many mental errors," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "Then we're constantly trying to overcome things we don't do and mistakes we make. I felt like our basketball team really made some strides from our last two games. ... We just let it slip away."

Florida led 31-30 at halftime, but neither team was able to gain the upper hand in the first half.

After trailing most of the half, Kentucky took a 47-39 lead with 13:57 left in the game, its largest lead.

The Gators rallied with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 47 with 11:55 left. From there, it was a fight to the finish.

"This hurts," Florida forward Matt Bonner said. "We wanted it, we wanted it so bad. We put in all the effort; we just made too many mistakes."

Kentucky dominated on the boards, outrebounding Florida 45-31, 20-11 on the offensive boards. Kentucky's guards pulled down 12 rebounds.

"We really dominated the boards in the second half," Smith said. "That was, I thought, the key to pulling out the win."

When Florida forward James White, fresh off a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules, slammed a reverse dunk with 15 seconds left in the first half, it gave Florida a 31-27 lead and seemingly the momentum.

But Prince answered with a 3-point basket from the corner with no time left to pull the Wildcats within one.

It was that kind of night for the Gators and Wildcats.

With Nelson out of the starting lineup, Donovan inserted walk-on Ronnie King for a more aggressive defensive approach, making him the first walk-on to get a start since Dan Williams in 1998. Nelson's substitution into the lineup with 16:52 left in the first half lit a fire under the Gators.

Nelson hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Gators an 8-4 lead, part of an 8-0 run for a 10-4 lead. With those baskets, Nelson moved into third on the school's career 3-point list with 189, surpassing former guard Teddy Dupay.

Greene had 14 points and four rebounds. Bogans led the Wildcats with 20 points, and Prince added 19 and 10 rebounds. Cliff Hawkins also scored 10 and had seven rebounds.

The 31 first-half points tied a season low for the Gators in SEC competition.

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