No. 10 Cats Outlast No. 6 Gators on Saturday

No. 10 Kentucky won its third game over an AP Top 10 opponent this season, taking its SEC opener, 106-100, over No. 6 Florida on Saturday at Rupp Arena. Six Wildcats scored in double figures, led by a career-high 23 points from Koby Brea who connected on seven 3-pointers in the contest.

Lamont Butler scored 19 points and set a new career benchmark with eight assists, while Otega Oweh had 16 points and Amari Williams posted 15 points and eight rebounds.

UK was powered by three separate runs of at least 10 points, including a 16-0 spurt in the first half that took the Cats from down by 11 points, to up by five. Another 10-0 run just prior to halftime gave Kentucky a 52-42 edge at the break.

When Florida pulled within one at 70-69 with 12:08 to play, UK made its third push, embarking on a 10-0 spurt to bring the lead back to 11. The Gators got back within two at 89-87, but Lamont Butler scored the next five points to help hold off the rally.

Andrew Carr scored seven of his 14 points over the last 2:15 of game time to help close out the win.

Some additional notes from the game:

• The game was the first time UK has opened SEC play with a matchup between two teams ranked in the AP Top 10
• Kentucky’s three wins over top 10 opponents are the most in college basketball this season
• Kentucky is 3-0 against AP top 10 opponents this season. It is the quickest (14 games) into a season that the Cats have three victories over AP top 10 opponents since 2014-15 (13 games)
• Kentucky posted a 4.2:1 assist to turnover ratio in the win, its best against an SEC opponent since 2012 vs. South Carolina (5.7:1)
• UK improves to 5-0 against the Gators when both teams are ranked in the top 10
• The 106 points were the second most for Kentucky ever against Florida (110 in 1970), it’s third most ever against an AP Top 10 opponent, and UK’s fourth most in an SEC opener
• The win snapped Florida’s 13-0 start to the season. Only two teams had entered Rupp Arena with better records – Auburn (17-0, 1998-99) and Vanderbilt (16-0, 2007-08). Kentucky won all three of those games
• Six Wildcats scored at least 14 points for just the second time in program history (Dec. 28, 1974 vs. Notre Dame)
• Jaxson Robinson reached 1,000 points for his career. Three Wildcats have crossed the mark this season and seven players on the roster are now 1,000-point scorers
• The 14 made 3-pointers were the fourth most in program history against an AP Top 10 opponent
• Koby Brea’s seven made 3s were tied for the second most in program history against an AP Top 10 opponent, trailing only Malik Monk’s eight against UNC in 2016