’Cats comeback staggers Gators
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 70
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kentucky Coach John Calipari went around the locker room at halftime and picked on just about everyone. His harshest criticism was directed toward star forward Nick Richards.
“Nick, you are so bad right now,” Calipari recalled. “We’re not going away from you, so you can either be the player you’ve been all year or look like this.”
Richards chose option No. 1. The junior scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, leading the way as the sixthranked Wildcats rallied from an 18-point deficit and stunned Florida 71-70 on Saturday.
The shorthanded Wildcats (25-6, 15-3 SEC) needed the comeback to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time in nearly three months. They blew an 17-point lead against Tennessee on Tuesday night.
Richards, Keion Brooks Jr. and EJ Montgomery provided the spark in this one, helping make up for the absence of point guard Ashton Hagans.
Hagans didn’t make the trip three days after arguing with Calipari on the bench against the Volunteers.
Calipari said he expects Hagans to return before this week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Kentucky is the No. 1 seed and opens play Friday following a double bye.
“Hopefully what you’ll see is an inspired young man,” Calipari said. “And if he doesn’t think he’s ready for that, then he’s not ready.”
Scottie Lewis scored a career-high 19 for Florida (1912, 11-7). Noah Locke added 14, and Keyontae Johnson 12. Florida led by 18 points with 11:48 left in the game.
In other SEC games Saturday, Marlon Taylor scored a career-high 30 points in his final home game to lead LSU (21-10, 12-6) to a 94-64 victory against Georgia (15-16, 5-13). Anthony Edwards was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs with 17 points. … Dru Smith scored 17 points to lead Missouri (15-16, 7-11) to a 6950 victory over Alabama (16-15, 8-10). Kira Lewis Jr. led the Crimson Tide with 18 points. … Scotty Pippen Jr. tied a career high with 21 points and Maxwell Evans added 20, leading Vanderbilt (11-20, 3-15) to back-to-back wins for the first time since December with an 83-74 victory over South Carolina (1813, 8-6). … Samir Doughty made 8 of 13 three-pointers and finished with 32 points as No. 17 Auburn (25-6, 12-6) beat Tennessee 85-63. Tennessee (1714, 9-9) was led by John Fulkerson’s 19 points . ... Reggie Perry had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead Mississippi State (20-11, 11-7) to a 69-44 victory over Mississippi in Starkville, Miss. Devontae Shuler led Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12) with 16 points.