Kentucky caught fire at the gate but lost his mojo on the piece.
On Senior Day at Rupp Arena, the Wildcats fall to the Florida Gators with a final score of 71-67. Kentucky led 26-16 halfway through the first half when they started 7-11 off the floor that afternoon. However, the Cats would only shoot 12-37 the rest of the way as Florida outscored them by five in the second half to sneak away with the win.
Davion Mintz brought the lead for Kentucky, and he shot 21 points at 7-14 and a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line. Three of his Wildcat teammates also finished in double figures as BJ Boston (13 points), Isaiah Jackson (11) and Jacob Toppin (11) helped fill in the gaps. Free throws kept Kentucky alive throughout, as they finished 25-29 off the charity line.
Once Florida used a zone defense in the second half, the Kentucky offense got stuck more than a few times. UK went on several droughts lasting longer than three minutes, spinning the ball 15 times and dishing out just seven cents. Missed opportunities, including a score of 1-11 from the second half, the Cats tried to fight out of a hole that appeared too deep.
Kentucky shot 9-27 in the final 20 minutes of action while Florida settled for 10-19. Tre Mann was the car of Florida and scored 21 points when the Gators shot more than 52 percent from the floor and 47 percent from outside the arc. The Cats now fall to 7-8 in the SEC and further away from a possible double bee for the upcoming conference tournament.