LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky and Florida bookended the month of January with games they may have stolen on each other's home floor.
After the Wildcats came from 11 behind to beat the Gators 87-85 on Jan. 6 in Gainesville, Florida responded with a 94-91 overtime win on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena in a game it once trailed by 10 points and found itself down four with 37 seconds to go.
Walter Clayton Jr. splashed a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to send the game to overtime tied at 84. He would add one more in overtime, his seventh trey of the night, to help the Gators leave town with only their 12th win ever in 67 trips to Lexington.
"They're a little young, and they were jumping at a lot of shot fakes with me," Clayton said of the Cats. His clutch shot to send the game to overtime came on one of those fakes to get UK out of position.
Florida outscored Kentucky 10-7 in the extra period to pick up a hard-fought victory. The Gators improved to 3-0 in overtime games this season, while the Cats dropped to 1-2 in such contests.
"Our guys played very poised in the final seconds (of regulation)," Florida head coach Todd Golden said. "...Once we got it to overtime, it kind of felt like we were playing with house money.
"It was a heckuva game. Very similar to the game in our gym... The opposing team was resilient and kept battling and didn't let the home team off the hook."
"They deserved to win," UK head coach John Calipari said of the Gators. "They played it and made plays and we missed plays. But I’m proud of how the kids fought shorthanded. You know, they are a good team, just like South Carolina. South Carolina is a good team. This league is good."
The Gators became the latest team to torch the much-maligned UK defense, which was strained even further on this night with two starters (point guard DJ Wagner and small forward Justin Edwards) sidelined by injuries.
With the main rotation logging more minutes than usual -- including Reed Sheppard playing all 45 minutes -- the Cats allowed Florida to shoot 46% in the second half and knock down 12 3-pointers on the night.
Florida (15-6, 5-3 SEC) got 23 points from Clayton, 22 from Tyrese Samuel, and 21 from Zyon Pullin. The trio helped the Gators pick up their first Quad 1 victory in the last two seasons, a win that may ultimately help get Florida in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, No. 10 Kentucky (15-5, 5-3 SEC) damaged its seeding outlook despite getting 24 points from Sheppard, 20 from Rob Dillingham, 19 from Antonio Reeves, and a career game from sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso (13 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocked shots, 2 steals) in his first collegiate start.
"The way he played and the way some of our other guys played, you need to win that game," Calipari said. "We just needed a couple of subs, and we didn’t have them."
The game featured 15 ties and 29 lead changes.
"This was a fun game to watch; it was not a fun game to coach," said Calipari, whose team has still yet to play a game this season with its full roster available.
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
With Kentucky leading by two with 13 seconds remaining, Florida was forced to foul Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham in hopes that he would miss at least one of his free throws. The 77% shooter hit the first shot but missed the second, giving the Gators a chance to send the game into overtime. Walter Clayton Jr. did just that, getting UK's Reed Sheppard out of position with a pump fake and burying a trey from the left wing to rescue the Gators.
GAME BALL:
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida -- The Gators' junior guard came into the game averaging 15.9 points per game and shooting 34.5% from 3-point range, but tagged the Cats with 23 points while knocking down seven of 13 shots from beyond the arc, including the biggest one of the night, a 3-pointer with five seconds left to send the game into overtime.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Time ever that Florida has scored 85 or more points in both regular-season games against Kentucky.
2nd - Time that a Kentucky-Florida game has gone to overtime in 152 meetings.
3rd - Player in Division I since 2010-11 and the first from a power conference to have at least 13 points, 16 rebounds, eight blocked shots, and two steals in a game - UK's Ugonna Onyenso. He is the first player in program history to record that line.
12th - Loss by Kentucky to an unranked team at Rupp Arena in the last five seasons, including the second this season.
18 - Made free throws by the Gators on 22 attempts. The Cats went just 11-for-17 at the line.
91 - Most points ever scored by UK in a loss to Florida.
QUOTABLE:
"He's definitely coming on. The first time we played them, he played under 10 minutes. He's becoming a focal point in their frontcourt... He's providing Kentucky with a lot of toughness and physicality and rim protection. I didn't realize he had eight blocks, He had a heckuva game, goodness gracious." -- Florida head coach Todd Golden on UK center Ogonna Onyenso
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday at Rupp Arena against No. Tennessee. The Volunteers (15-5, 5-2 SEC) are coming off a 63-59 loss at home to South Carolina on Tuesday. Tipoff for the Cats and Vols is 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
