Gators use tough defense to slip by Wildcats
The Florida Gators endured a miserable shooting night and seemed unlikely to pick up a road win in the SEC’s toughest arena.
But UF’s intense defensive pressure and some late buckets helped the Gators pick up a 66-64 upset at No. 18 Kentucky Saturday night.
KeVaughn Allen and Jalen Hudson hit two free throws apiece during the final 46 seconds of the game and the Gators (14-6, 6-1 SEC) added two blocks to hold off the Wildcats (14-5, 4-3).
The Gators shot 33 percent from the field, 20 percent from 3-point range and 64 percent from the freethrow line.
The Wildcats weren't much better at 40 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from long range and 66.7 from the free-throw line.
Hudson led the Gators with 17 points while Chris Chiozza was active with 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Egor Koulechov normally is an elite scorer, but he was limited to two points. He did his part to help UF by chipping in nine rebounds, one steal and one block with less than a minute left to help preserve UF's slim lead.
Jarred Vanderbilt and Shai Gilgeous-Alexader chipped in 10 points apiece for Kentucky.
It was pushing midnight as UCLA players trudged through the rain into their dated but quaint riverside hotel. The Bruins had endured something of a slog after making the roughly hourlong drive from Corvallis following a second consecutive defeat.
Across town, the mood was more upbeat for their USC counterparts. The Trojans could fully enjoy the comforts of their modern boutique hotel, complete with cardinal and gold blown glass light fixtures in the lobby, after beating Oregon to notch a third consecutive victory.
It felt like two teams passing in the night, separated by less than three miles, but a world apart in terms of the trajectory of their seasons.
USC, which had opened the season amid high expectations and a cloud of FBI suspicion for its alleged involvement in the college basketball corruption scandal, was enjoying a moment in the sun, which peeked through the clouds Friday afternoon as the team bus pulled away for Corvallis.
UCLA, which had opened the season with high hopes despite an international shoplifting incident that deprived the team of three freshmen, was shrouded in uncertainty. The Bruins, 13-6 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12 Conference, have already lost more games before the midpoint of conference play than they did all of last season.
Any internal strain was not visible on the face of UCLA coach Steve Alford, who remained cheery during his remarks after the Bruins’ 69-63 loss to Oregon State on Thursday and tenderly tapped a reporter on the arm as he walked away.
“A lot of guys are going through this for the first time,” Alford said, alluding to playing three freshmen and two others who redshirted last season, “so we’ve just got to continue to be positive, continue to be upbeat, continue to encourage them and show them some things on film that they’ve just to work on and hopefully we just keep getting better.”
Optimism could come more naturally for USC (14-6, 5-2), which resides only half a game behind first-place Stanford and Arizona in the Pac-12 standings. The Trojans would have first place all to themselves had they not lost to the Cardinal on a desperation heave.
“We’re a 50-footer at the buzzer from being 6-0 in our last six [games],” USC coach Andy Enfield said.