The Kentucky Wildcats came back to beat the Florida Gators Saturday night 65-54.
The Cats got off to quite the ugly start. They only went into halftime trailing 33-29, but it could’ve been a lot worse. And it continued into the second half, as the offense was simply stagnant.
UK went down 42-31 before finally waking up. That’s in part thanks to Keldon Johnson and PJ Washington. Keldon decided to wake up, and PJ started playing harder than anyone on the court. Oh, and Herro starting knocking down shots.
The defense locked it down in the last 15 minutes to keep the Cats in the game, and the offense did just enough to pull away for the tough win on the road.
Immanuel Quickley and Jemarl Baker didn’t do much in the box score, but they provided quality minutes off the bench.
Reid Travis and Ashton Hagans struggled offensively, but they contributed in other ways. Travis hit the boards hard, and Hagans was locked in defensively, as well as distributing the ball well.
As mentioned above, Johnson got it going in the second half, but he also pulled down several big rebounds.
Tyler Herro was the biggest contributor on the offensive end, though, leading all scorers with 19 points. If it wasn’t for foul trouble in the first half, he would’ve scored even more. But regardless, it was a great game for him. He shot well, rebounded well, and played solid defense in holding the Gators’ leading scorer KeVaughn Allen to 11 points.
It was a really ugly game, but great teams find a way to win, especially on the road. The defense stayed focused, even when the shots wouldn’t fall. Kentucky fought through adversity and escaped with the big win.
Next up is the South Carolina Gamecocks, as the Cats return home on Tuesday night.
Box Score
Game MVP
This was a tough one. Tyler Herro hit multiple big shots, but PJ Washington brought it the whole game. For a guy that’s been so heavily criticized for his failure to give max effort and focus, PJ has really turned the corner.
It seems the PJ we all expected is here to stay. He played so hard today. He also got on his teammates when they didn’t seem like they were focused or playing hard.
PJ Washington.
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) February 2, 2019
Leader.
Kentucky outscored Florida 34-12 from this point forward. pic.twitter.com/2fWAgsKFZb
It was really awesome to see the sophomore forward continue to grow up right before our eyes. He left his heart out on the court.
PJ finished with a third straight double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
What fight from PJ and these Cats!
Highlights
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