Following Florida’s 67-61 loss to a Vanderbilt team that had lost seven straight Southeastern Conference games, Michael Frazier II said that the team "didn’t come out with any passion or energy."
With every SEC game a must-win for the Gators (12-10, 5-4 SEC), it’s surprising when a player says that the team isn’t prepared to capitalize on the opportunities at hand.
That can’t happen anymore. Not if Florida wants to make the NCAA tournament.
Now, with undefeated and No. 1 Kentucky (22-0, 9-0 SEC) coming to town for a 9 p.m. Saturday matchup, the Gators are in serious danger of dropping a second straight game.
Because if Florida isn’t motivated from the opening tip, Kentucky could get the sweet revenge the Wildcats have craved since the Gators swept all three games against them last year, including a 84-65 walloping in Gainesville to seal UF’s perfect 18-0 SEC finish.
Coach Billy Donovan said what makes Kentucky so good is they never have lapses where the team struggles to score or get stops, areas in which the Gators have been guilty of nodding off this season.
"I would say watching Kentucky play, they’re an inspired team and play very motivated," Donovan said. "We’re expecting them to be at their best when we play against them and hopefully we can be at our best."
Donovan knows the team didn’t bring its best against the Commodores.
The Gators trailed the entire time as shot after shot failed to find the bottom of the net, including the first nine as Vanderbilt buried Florida early with a 15-0 game-opening run.
Senior Jacob Kurtz said that after two great practices and riding a two-game winning streak, he was surprised with how the Gators tumbled with a chance to pad the résumé.
"I wasn’t expecting that," Kurtz said. "I thought we would be ready to go. We obviously weren’t. That’s something we have to be better at against anybody we play as I said earlier. Especially when you get down 15 points, that’s really tough to start, especially on the road, you really can’t do that. "
Kurtz will face the daunting task of attempting to limit Wildcats big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein.
Donovan said one of the keys to the game will be controlling the glass, limiting Kentucky’s attempts to get extra possessions.
"I think for us it’s always a concern, the rebounding, with some of the lack of size up front," Donovan said. "Playing Kentucky on Saturday, they are going to have clearly a lot more size than Vanderbilt has, so that’s certainly got to be an area of focus for us."
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Billy Donovan looks down the court during Florida's 57-56 win against Arkansas on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.
