Recap and Takeaways From Kentucky’s Brutal Overtime Loss To Florida

Kentucky had a wild game against Florida on Wednesday night in Rupp Arena. It was a close game throughout, with both teams essentially trading baskets. But, in the final minutes, Kentucky let a lead slip away along with bad late-game execution that led to overtime.

Florida would go on to take a lead in overtime by as much as 7. The Cats climbed back, but missed shots and poor defense led to the 94-91 loss in overtime. Reed Sheppard was Kentucky’s leading scorer with 24 points, followed by Rob Dillingham with 20 points, and Antonio Reeves with 19. Ugonna Onyenso also had an impressive career-best game, with 13 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 2 steals.

Let’s take a look at the takeaways from the rough loss.

Ugonna Onyenso Has Career-Best Game

Despite the loss, one of the bright spots was Ugonna Onyenso’s incredible performance. Making his first career start at Kentucky, Onyenso was a force on the defensive end. He finished with 13 points, 16 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 2 steals.

Onyenso had a career-high in his 8 blocks along with a team season-high of 16 rebounds. His stat-line of 13-6-8 is the first of that same combination in UK history. His performance though, was overshadowed by Florida escaping Rupp Arena with the win.

Injuries Hurt Kentucky’s Depth

Kentucky was shorthanded in Wednesday’s loss to Florida. After getting Rob Dillingham back from sickness, they were still unable to play at full strength yet this season. DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards both did not play on Wednesday. Calipari said pregame on the UK Sports Network that Wagner’s ankle was bothering him, which has been lingering for a lot of the season.

Justin Edwards was battling a leg injury that he suffered last week at South Carolina, which led to limited minutes against Arkansas on Saturday. With both Wagner and Edwards out, Kentucky’s rotation got smaller, which forced players to play more minutes. Five players ended up playing at least 33 minutes on Wednesday, which led to players being tired, and Calipari said that led to some of the late-game errors.”it’s kind of like we got tired out but we didn’t — there was not a whole lot of subs,” Calipari said.

During the game on Wednesday, Adou Thiero was having back problems after just returning from a back injury last game. Calipari says he’s unsure if Kentucky will be fully healthy against Tennessee on Saturday. “I don’t know if we’ll have a full roster, but we’ve got no choice.”

Poor Late-Game Execution Costs Kentucky

Kentucky had the game in their hands, but bad late-game execution and errors led to the brutal loss. With no fresh legs on the court, Kentucky was forced to play with just a handful of players due to injuries. With a 3-point lead with 13 seconds left, Rob Dillingham went 1-2 at the line, which led to a game-tying three by Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. that ultimately led to overtime, where Florida escaped with the win.

It was in Kentucky’s hands, but the mistakes costed them in the final moments. The Cats are now 15-5 overall and 5-3 in SEC play. Kentucky will look to bounce back on Saturday when 5th ranked Tennessee comes to Rupp Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EST and will be televised on ESPN.

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