by Corey Price
Tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN the now #2 Kentucky Wildcats will battle against the hated Florida Gators at the O’Connell Center in UK’s first road game in SEC play. A win over the Gators would give the Wildcats a 17-0 record this season, the third best start to a season in UK history. Although, Florida has been a spoiler to great Kentucky starts before. On February 24th, 1934 the Gators defeated the 16-0 Wildcats 38-32. The last time UK was ranked #2 in the AP Poll was the week of March 16th through March 22nd, 2004, the start of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Here are some numbers and facts of interests heading into tonight’s game:
UK’s Various Records vs. Florida
| UK’s overall record vs. Florida: 86-32 (.729) (2-8 last 10 meetings) |
| UK’s record vs. Florida on the road: 31-21 (.596) |
| UK’s record vs. Florida at the O’Connell Center: 16-13 (.551) (3-8 last 11 meetings) |
| UK’s record vs. Florida when UK is ranked and Florida is unranked: 52-16 (.765) (lost last 2 meetings) |
UK’s Various Records in Their First Game on the Road in SEC Play
| UK’s record in their first road game of SEC play: 51-24 (.680) |
| UK’s record in their first road game of SEC play vs. Florida 5-3 (.625) |
| UK’s record in their first road game of SEC play vs. Florida at the O’Connell Center: 1-0 (1.000) |
Other Various Records
UK’s overall record playing on January 12th: 24-5 (.828)
UK’s record playing Florida on January 12th: 2-0 (1.000)
Largest crowd to attend a Kentucky/Florida game at the O’Connell Center: 12,614 (3/7/2007)
| RPI Rankings (As Of 9:30 P.M. January 11th) |
| Kentucky: 13th |
| Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 115th |
| Florida: 83rd |
| Florida’s Strength Of Schedule: 129th |
| Pomeroy Ratings (As Of January 10th) |
| Kentucky: 15th |
| Kentucky’s Strength Of Schedule: 210th |
| Kentucky’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 217th |
| Florida: 45th |
| Florida’s Strength of Schedule: 202nd |
| Florida’s Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule: 258th |
| Kentucky Individual Game Records vs. Florida |
| Points: 37, Dan Issel (1/10/1970 and 2/14/1970) |
| Rebounds: 24, Dan Issel (12/4/1967) |
| Assists: 11, Dicky Beal (2/13/1984) |
| Steals: 6, Anthony Epps (2/15/1997) |
| Blocks: 6, Melvin Turpin (1/17/1983) |
| Free Throws Made: 14, John Adams (1/30/1965) |
| Field Goals Made: 16, Kevin Grevey (2/25/1974) Vernon Hatton (1/31/1958) |
| 3 Point Field Goals Made: 8, Cameron Mills (2/1/1998) |
| Florida Individual Game Records vs. UK |
| Points: 37, Chip Williams (1/26/1974) |
| Rebounds: 29, Neal Walk (12/4/1967) |
| Assists: 10, Norman Caldwell (1/26/1974) |
| Steals: 5, Clifford Lett (1/12/1989) |
| Blocks: 4, Eugene McDowell (1/17/1983) Dwayne Schintzius (1/20/1988) Al Horford (3/6/2005) Joakim Noah (3/5/2006) Marreese Speights (1/19/2008) |
| Free Throws Made: 16, Dan Cross (2/18/1995) |
| Field Goals Made: 14, Chip Williams (1/26/1974) |
| 3 Point Field Goals Made: 6, Anthony Roberson (3/7/2004) |
| Kentucky In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of January 10th) |
| Assists Per Game: T-24th (16.6) |
| Blocks Per Game: 8th (7.3) |
| Field Goal Percentage Defense: 25th (38.3%) |
| Field Goal Percentage: 9th (49.8%) |
| Fouls Per Game: 20th (15.4) |
| Rebound Margin: 3rd (+10.6) |
| Scoring Margin: 9th (+17.9) |
| Scoring Offense: 18th (82.4) |
| Florida In The Top 30 In Team Statistics (As Of January 10th) |
| Fouls Per Game – 26th (15.7) |
| 3 Point Field Goal Percentage Defense: 14th (28.1%) |
| Kentucky Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of January 10th) |
| Assists Per Game: John Wall, 2nd (7.1) |
| Field Goal Percentage: Patrick Patterson, 4th (62.9%) |
| Rebounds Per Game: DeMarcus Cousin, T-37th (9.4) |
| Steals Per Game: John Wall, T-29th (2.3) |
| Florida Players In The Top 50 In Individual Statistics (As Of January 10th) |
| Assists Per Game: Erving Walker, T-49th (5) |
There have been two previous games in which Kentucky was ranked #2 in the AP Poll and played an unranked Florida Gators squad at the O’Connell Center. Here are those instances:
January 17th, 1984
#2 Kentucky – 57
Florida – 69
Jim Master led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points
Eugene McDowell led the Gators in scoring with 16 points
February 24th, 1996
#2 Kentucky – 94
Florida – 63
Antoine Walker led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points
Dametri Hill led the Gators in scoring with 24 points
We know that today’s UK/Florida matchup is a very big game for both teams, and since half the writers on this site reside in Florida … we have treated it with the same respect as a Louisville or Tennessee game, so there has been lots of pre-game analysis and pure Gator hate on the site. Here is some links in case you missed it:
- Paul’s preview of the game
- Paul’s “What I hate about you: Florida Gators edition“
- Alan’s A sea of orange turned blue: The changing of the tide
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans