Florida returned to the AP Top 25 this week at No. 20, while junior guard Jalen Hudson earned SEC co-player of the week honors Monday.
The Gators (14-5, 6-1 SEC) have won seven of their last eight games and posted an 66-64 win at then-No. 18 Kentucky on Saturday. It was UF’s first win at Rupp Arena since 2014 and just its fourth win at Rupp since 1998.
Florida was as high as No. 5 in the AP poll in early December, but dropped out of the Top 25 after losing four of five games during that month.
Kentucky slid out of Monday’s latest poll from No. 18 after losses to South Carolina and Florida, snapping a 30-game home winning streak for the Wildcats in Southeastern Conference play. That dropped coach John Calipari’s Wildcats out for the first time since March 2014 and snapped a 68-week stretch in the poll.
The top three of Villanova, Virginia and Purdue remained the same, with Villanova staying at No. 1 for the third straight week. Duke inched up a spot to No. 4, while Kansas jumped five spots to No. 5 after winning at West Virginia.
The 6-foot-6 Hudson averaged 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench in wins over Arkansas and Kentucky. Hudson also came up with a big blocked shot with two seconds remaining in UF’s final defensive stand against Kentucky to seal the win. Hudson shared SEC player of the week honors with Texas A&M junior center Tyler Davis, who averaged 15.5 points and 13 rebounds in wins over Ole Miss and Missouri.
Florida will begin a stretch of playing four of its next five games at home on Wednesday night at the O’Connell Center against South Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEC standings
;Conference; All Games
;W ;L ;PCT; W; L; PCT
Florida; 6; 1; .857; 14; 5; .737
Auburn; 5; 1; .833; 17; 2; .895
Alabama; 5; 2; .714; 13; 6; .684
Kentucky; 4; 3; .571; 14; 5; .737
Tennessee; 4; 3; .571; 13; 5; .722
Missouri; 3; 3; .500; 13; 6; .684
Arkansas; 3; 4; .429; 13; 6; .684
Georgia; 3; 4; .429; 12; 6; .667
South Carolina; 3; 4; .429; 12; 7; .632
Mississippi; 3; 4; .429; 10; 9; .526
Mississippi St.; 2; 4; .333; 14; 5; .737
LSU; 2; 4; .333; 11; 7; .611
Texas A&M; 2; 5; .286; 13; 6; .684
Vanderbilt; 2; 5; .286; 7; 12; .368
Saturday’s Games
Vanderbilt 77, LSU 71
Arkansas 97, Mississippi 93
Texas A&M 60, Missouri 49
Auburn 79, Georgia 65
Tennessee 70, South Carolina 63
Florida 66, Kentucky 64
Alabama 68, Mississippi St. 62
Tuesday
Arkansas at Georgia, 6:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Mississippi, 8:30 p.m.
Texas A&M at LSU, 9 p.m.
Mississippi St. at Kentucky, 9 p.m.
Wednesday
South Carolina at Florida, 7 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Auburn at Missouri, 9 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Saturday
Texas Tech at South Carolina, 12 p.m., ESPN2
Baylor at Florida, 12 p.m., ESPN
Ole Miss at Texas, 2 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia at Kansas State, 2 p.m., ESPNU
Oklahoma at Alabama, 2:15 p.m., ESPN
Tennessee at Iowa State, 4 p.m., ESPNU
TCU at Vanderbilt, 4 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M at Kansas, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Oklahoma State at Arkansas, 6 p.m., ESPN2
LSU at Auburn, 6 p.m, SEC NETWORK
Kentucky at West Virginia, 7 p.m, ESPN
Missouri at Miss St, 8:30 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Rest of UF’s schedule
Tue, Jan. 30 at Georgia, 7 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Sat, Feb. 3 vs Alabama, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Wed, Feb. 7 vs LSU, 6:30 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Sat, Feb. 10 at South Carolina, 12 p.m., CBS
Wed, Feb. 14 vs Georgia, 9 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Sat, Feb. 17 at Vanderbilt, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Wed, Feb. 21 at Tennessee, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Sat, Feb. 24 vs Auburn, 8:30 p.m., SEC NETWORK
Tue, Feb. 27 at Alabama, 7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Sat, March 3 vs Kentucky, 12 p.m., CBS
