Kentucky Basketball vs Florida: Start Time, TV Info, Online Stream, Odds, Rosters, Prediction

Kentucky and Florida will go head-to-head Saturday afternoon with the SEC’s top spot at stake, as well as a potential 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The two squads come in to Saturday’s matchup tied for first place with identical 13-2 conference records, as well as identical 23-5 regular season records.

Florida has arguably been one of the hottest teams in the country as of late, reeling off nine consecutive wins.

Seven of those nine wins have been by double-digit margins, including a dominating 88-66 victory over Kentucky in Gainesville earlier this month. The Gators are coming off of an 81-66 victory over South Carolina in which the Gators shot 49 percent from the field and made 9-19 three pointers.

The Wildcats come in as winners of their last five games, pulling away from the Missouri Tigers late for a 72-62 victory in their last game. The Wildcats will certainly need a better defensive effort Saturday to slow down the Gators. The Wildcats will also have to be much better rebounding the basketball. The Gators dominated the rebounding margin in the last matchup 45-29.

Kentucky will look to defend against Gators’ guard Kasey Hill and forward Devon Robinson, both of whom had big games in Gainesville. Hill scored 21 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and dished out six assists, while Robinson flirted with a double double by going for 16 points and 9 rebounds.

The Gators will be without big man John Egbunu, who suffered a season-ending injury, but Egbunu was not a major factor in the Gators’ victory in Gainesville, accumulating eight points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes on the floor.

Being in Rupp should be a nice boost for the Wildcats, but it will take a strong 40-minute effort for the Cats to come away with a victory against a Florida squad that could pose a major threat in March.

Here is everything you’ll need to watch and follow this matchup:

Florida Gators (23-5, 13-2 in SEC) at Kentucky Wildcats (23-5, 13-2 in SEC)

When: Feb. 25, 2017

Location: Rupp Arena

Game Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

Rosters: UF Roster; UK Roster

Online Stream: CBS Sports

Radio: UK Radio Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt (info and affiliates)

Odds: Kentucky opened as a 3-point favorite. KenPom projected the Cats to be a 3-point favorite.

Prediction: KenPom projects an 80-77 win for the Wildcats and gives them a 61-percent chance of winning.