Rapid Reaction: Kentucky keeps SEC title hopes alive with comeback win over Florida
By Adam Spencer
Published:
It wasn’t always comfortable, but the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats got the job done on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season with a win over Florida.
Trailing 31-30 at halftime, the Wildcats started pulling away in the final minutes of the game to clinch the 66-57 victory and keep themselves alive in the race for the SEC regular-season title. Now, if LSU loses at home to Vanderbilt on Saturday night, the Wildcats will get a share of the title.
An added benefit of Saturday’s win is that the Wildcats are now the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament after the Tennessee Volunteers lost at Auburn to finish their SEC schedule.
Leading the way for the Wildcats against the Gators was big man PJ Washington, who had 15 points and nine rebounds in what will likely be his last game at Rupp Arena before he heads to the NBA. He was one of four Wildcats to finish in double figures, with Tyler Herro scoring a team-high 16 points. Keldon Johnson and Ashton Hagans both finished with 14 points in the win.
Herro had a couple of big shots, including this high-arcing floater in the second half:
There are floaters, and then there are flooOOOoaters pic.twitter.com/QNOSvK8Pkg
— CBS Sports College Basketball ? (@CBSSportsCBB) March 9, 2019
Kevarrius Hayes had a game-high 17 points to lead the Gators in the loss, which drops them to 17-14 overall. They’ll need a strong showing in the SEC Tournament to punch a ticket to March Madness.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
