66° M/CLOUDY, Last hope for the Gators?
Last Modified: Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 10:51 p.m.
Florida sophomore forward Dan Werner plans to stay away from watching ESPN, CBS or any other college basketball-related shows where bubbles and brackets may be mentioned.
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With Kentucky freshman forward Patrick Patterson out for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his left ankle, the Wildcats have had to rely on some creative combinations. For example, Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie is starting 6-foot-6 sophomore Derrick Jasper at power forward. Jasper started at point guard for UK last season. With Jasper and 6-foot-8 walk-on Mark Coury starting up front, Florida could have a big game scoring and rebounding inside if starters Dan Werner and Marreese Speights stay out of foul trouble. Sophomore forward Perry Stevenson has become a factor up front for Kentucky off the bench.
2. Bradley & Crawford
The two Kentucky guards will be honored before the game on Senior Day, and for good reason. Both have carried Kentucky offensively through SEC play. Crawford ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 17.1 points per game, while Bradley is ninth in the league at 16.0 points per game. Both are dangerous driving to the basket, so look for Florida to rotate help inside if Gator defenders get beat off the dribble on the perimeter.
3. Speights' endurance
Marreese Speights has played more than 30 minutes in each of his last three games. During the span, Speights is averaging 18 points and nine rebounds per game. Florida will need its sophomore center to avoid foul trouble and fatigue to pull off an upset on the road.
4. Ball handling
Kentucky has tightened up its ball handling of late but still is turning the ball over 16.2 times per game. Florida had 14 turnovers overall against Tennessee, but 10 came during its second-half meltdown when the Vols turned up the pressure with its traps on defense. Look for both teams to pressure the ball early and often in an effort to generate easy baskets. Both teams combined for 29 turnovers in their first meeting at the O'Connell Center.
5. The Rupp factor
Florida, which has won its last two meetings at Rupp Arena, has never won three in a row there in program history. A sellout of 24,000 is expected for Senior Day, and fans will be loud early and often, especially if the game remains tight. Kentucky is unbeaten at home in SEC play. UF's five freshmen will be playing their first game at Rupp Arena.
"Personally, I don't watch that stuff," Werner said. "I'd rather watch hunting shows."
Werner, who hunted for deer on family property in central New Jersey during last offseason, is patient enough to spend a day in a tree stand without sighting a buck. Maybe that's why he's not rushing to judgment about Florida's NCAA Tournament status entering today's regular-season finale at Kentucky.
Some around the country have billed today's Florida-Kentucky matchup as a tournament play-in game, but it sets up as more of an elimination game for the Gators. If Florida loses, it drops to 8-8 in the conference and 3-7 in its final 10 regular-season games.
"We definitely need it," Werner said. "As far as a play-in game, I don't know what the committee does or what goes into it. I just know we need to win."
Otherwise, Florida will probably need to at least reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament finals to merit consideration for an at-large bid.
"It's a huge game for us and we're just going to go in with the mind-set of playing our gameplan and trying to win," Florida freshman guard Nick Calathes said. "It would be a good win for us to take to the SEC Tournament."
The NCAA Tournament selection committee judges how a team finishes more than how it starts, which is why Kentucky has renewed vigor in its quest for its 17th straight tournament berth. Kentucky has won 10 of its last 12, overcoming injuries with a renewed commitment to defense and clutch scoring from senior guards Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley.
"We're not looking at this game as whether we get in the tournament or not," Bradley said. "We believe we're already in."
Florida had its chance to improve its tournament resume but let a 13-point halftime lead slip away at home Wednesday against No. 4 Tennessee.
"We definitely put up a good fight, but we just didn't get the job done," Werner said. "We saw things in film we had to do better. Each game we learn different things."
A win today would give Florida (21-9, 8-7) a winning record in the Southeastern Conference, which would help its resume for an at-large bid. Since 1998, only one SEC team (Tennessee in 2002-03) hasn't earned an at-large bid with a winning league record.
"When the tournament comes up, and people keep talking about those kind of things, I'm looking at such a bigger picture," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "I want to get better today to even consider talking about that down the road someday. And if we win enough games, we'll get in, and if we don't, we won't. But I'm much more focused on the growth and the fact that these guys have got so much growing and they are not nearly where they need to be to be considered great."
Donovan said extending Florida's string of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances to 10 remains important.
"If they did make the tournament, it would be good for their growth and for their development," Donovan said. "But we have to grow before we can really talk about those things."
Florida has won seven straight against Kentucky, yet enters today feeling more like an underdog because of its recent play. Florida has won its last two games at Rupp Arena, where Kentucky enters today a perfect 7-0 against SEC teams this season. Plus, Florida has never won three in a row at Rupp, a building that opened in 1976.
Florida's five freshmen will be playing their first game at Rupp. Werner recalled his first game there last season, where a packed house hounded Joakim Noah and the rest of the Gators all night.
"I thought I had a good sense of what it's going to be like," Werner said. "But until you get there and when they go on one of their runs, it's pretty amazing."
A sellout crowd of 24,000 is expected to honor Bradley and Crawford before the game on Senior Day. With the pressure of the crowd as a factor, Florida players are trying to zone out the pressure of viewing the game as a must-win for the NCAA Tournament.
"It's tough to not think about it, but we're just going into each game to be honest with you," Calathes said. " If we think about it, it will be in our heads and there's no reason to do that. We've just got to play together as a team."
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