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Kentucky will be on the road this Saturday to take on the SEC’s third-place team in Florida.
The Gators are led by sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. When they take the court, Allen will be no stranger to Kentucky guard Malik Monk.
The two faced off in the Arkansas 7A Championship in 2015, with Allen scoring 28 points to lead his North Little Rock Squad to victory over Monk’s Bentonville team, despite Monk’s 25 point and nine rebound performance.
In his second season with the Gators, Allen has shown major improvement offensively, boosting his field goal percentage to 45.3 percent, his three-point percentage to 39.5 percent, and upping his scoring average to 13.6 ppg.
College of Charleston transfer Canyon Barry will also be a factor for the Gators, averaging 12.6 ppg, as well as point guards Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza.
Hill, a senior, averages just over nine points per game and around five assists. He also averages two steals per game. Chiozza, a junior, averages about five points per game to go along with 3.5 assists.
The Gators’ frontcourt is made up of forward Devin Robinson and center John Egbunu. Robinson is averaging 12 points per game to go along with five rebounds and shooting just over 50 percent from the floor.
Egbunu has seen his scoring and field goal percentage drop this season from 11.5 points and 59.1 percent last season to 7.7 points and 47.2 percent this season. Egbunu scored 27 points against Kentucky in Gainesville last year.
The Gators are lacking signature wins this season, falling just short against the likes of Gonzaga, Florida State, and Duke. The Gators will certainly be looking to get a resume-building win Saturday Night, while Kentucky would surely love to add a road win against a top-25 team to their resume as they will likely be fighting for a 2-seed the rest of the season.
Here is everything you’ll need to watch and follow this matchup:
Kentucky Wildcats (18-4, 8-1 in SEC) at Florida Gators (17-5, 7-2 in SEC)
When: Feb. 4, 2017
Location: O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
Game Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Online Stream: Watch ESPN
Radio: UK Radio Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt (info and affiliates)
Odds: Kentucky opened as a 2-point favorite. However, KenPom projected the Cats to be a 1.5-point underdog in Gainesville. It doesn’t help that Kentucky has gone just 1-6 vs the spread in the last seven games.
Prediction: KenPom projects an 80-79 Gators win and gives the Wildcats just a 45-percent chance of winning.