UF men's hoops falls at Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — You knew it was going to be one of those days when Kentucky sophomore Derrick Jasper made on off-balanced 3-pointer with a second remaining on the shot clock.

Or when Jasper, a 36.6 percent career 3-point shooter entering Sunday, banked in another 3-pointer on a fastbreak.

Florida left its NCAA Tournament hopes to chance when it faced a must-win situation against Kentucky before a raucous Senior Day crowd of 24,000 at Rupp Arena. Chance, and Kentucky, won 75-70, providing another dagger to Florida's fading opportunities to reach the tournament for a 10th straight year.

"A three off the glass?" Florida freshman Jai Lucas asked, rhetorically. "That's just luck. But we also put them in a situation where they took advantage of their breaks."

For Florida, a string of seven straight wins against Kentucky couldn't have been broken at a worse time. The Gators (21-10, 8-8 SEC) dropped their third straight and appear NIT-bound unless they make a deep run in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Florida opens SEC Tournament play Thursday night in Atlanta (7:30 p.m.) against Alabama. The Gators beat the Crimson Tide 90-83 to open the league season Jan. 8.

It seems like a long time ago. After a 5-1 conference start, Florida finished league play 3-7 to finish with its worst conference record (8-8) since going 6-10 in the league in 1997-98.

"That was nowhere near our expectations," Lucas said. "We thought we could contend for the top two spots (in the SEC East) and we were until February. It's been a battle for us ever since."

Poor defense, a season-long dilemma, hurt again Sunday. The Gators jumped to a quick 10-2 lead but couldn't hold it once sophomore Kentucky forward Perry Stevenson came off the bench and to the rescue. Stevenson led four Kentucky scorers in double-figures with 18 points, stealing the show from senior guards Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley. Crawford had 16 points, Bradley finished with 14 and Jasper scored 14 points, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range.

"Stevenson played a great game, but I thought at times our frontcourt made it a little too easy for him," Florida coach Billy Donovan said.

Stevenson was coming off what Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie called "the two worst days of practice" he's seen.

"Next time he practices bad, I'll be excited about it," Gillispie said.

Kentucky (18-12, 12-4) shot 58.3 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from 3-point range to continue its surge toward a 17th straight NCAA Tournament bid.

"We didn't defend as well as they did," said Florida freshman guard Nick Calathes, who finished with 16 points and six assists. "That's all it was really. We let up defensively."

Sophomore center Marreese Speights led Florida with 20 points and eight rebounds. Lucas added 13 points.

"We're playing good in spurts, then we continue to let down," Speights said.

Stevenson gave Kentucky its first lead 24-23, on a three-point play with 8:10 remaining. Calathes sat the final eight minutes of the half with two fouls, but Florida held together, trailing just 33-31 at halftime.

In the second half, Florida took a brief 35-33 lead when Speights scored four straight points on two free throws and an inside dunk. But Speights picked up his third foul when he hacked Stevenson on a drive to the basket.

"I was just trying to help on defense and block a shot," Speights said.

With Speights out of the game, Kentucky went on a 14-0 run, which featured 3-pointers from Bradley, Jasper and Ramon Harris. After two free throws from Florida sophomore Dan Werner, Jasper hit his fall-away 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to extend the Kentucky lead to 50-37.

"Probably a combination of our lapses on defense and some of the shots they made at the end of the clock, definitely played a role," Donovan said.

Jasper gave Kentucky its biggest lead, 60-44, on another 3-pointer before Florida battled back. The Gators began pressing at the four-minute mark and didn't let up, cutting the Kentucky lead to 73-70 on a driving Lucas layup with 23 seconds left.

Florida nearly forced turnovers on the next two in-bounds play, forcing Kentucky to call a timeout and trapping Crawford in the right corner. Florida junior Walter Hodge slapped the ball away from Crawford, but knocked the ball out of bounds, setting up another in-bounds play with 13.6 seconds left.

This time, Kentucky got the ball cleanly in to Stevenson, who made both free throws with 9.7 seconds left to clinch the game.

"If we would have played like we did at the start of the game and the last four minutes, we would have had a better turnout," Calathes said.

As Florida's tournament hopes melted in the Kentucky snow, Donovan provided some perspective to where he felt the team was in March compared to where he thought it might be. The Gators have dropped three straight this month.

"Last October, I didn't know if we were going to win four league games with the way we were practicing," Donovan said. "Then we won a few games early but I think our schedule may have had a little something to do with that. I think our guys are competing right now, but not seeing the results."