Florida Gators’ basketball’s three-game winning streak came to an abrupt, decisive end on Saturday night in Lexington, Kentucky. Despite an impressive first-half effort, Florida (18-9, 9-5 SEC) was outclassed in the second half by the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats (22-5, 12-2 SEC), falling 65-59 on the road. Though the Gators have not been successful historically in Rupp Arena, they were able to quiet the Wildcats’ faithful by matching the hosts shot for shot in the first half. The visitors were unable to keep up that momentum in the latter 20 minutes, dropping what would have been a key Quadrant 1 opportunity for a team on the bubble of most NCAA Tournament projections. What went down on Saturday night? Let’s have a look with some fastbreak takeaways from the first of two Florida-Kentucky games this season. It was over when … the Wildcats were able to make four straight free throws down the stretch after the Gators cut their deficit to two points with 15.9 seconds remaining. Just as Florida tried to put pressure on in the game’s final minutes, Kentucky guard Immanuel Quickley got a lucky roll on a three-pointer to put his team ahead 61-53 with 1:34 to play. Quickley was outstanding on Saturday night, draining three straight triples in the second half as part of a heartbreaking run that turned a solid UF advantage into a significant deficit. He finished 8 of 17 from the field and 4 of 6 from downtown with a game-high 26 points. Florida was simply unable to stop him in the second half, and it cost the visitors the game. Second-half slowdown: The Gators were abhorrent offensively in the second half, going on droughts without field goals of 6:51 and 4:54 in the period. Florida shot just 1 for 11 from the field over a span of 11:45. During the front half of that stretch, Kentucky went on a 19-4 run as UF saw a seven-point lead become an eight-point deficit. An inability to find the bottom of the basket over such an extended period of time forced the Gators to play from behind, and they were never able to catch up over the duration of the game — plus, four turnovers in the final 3:12 did not help. While many will talk about uncalled fouls that would have benefitted Florida — and there is something to be said for that — but there were not many fouls called on either side and — in a rarity — UF had more foul shots than UK did in Rupp (14-10) with the Gators having three fouls to give late in the game. Exceptional efforts: Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson remained his consistent self, hitting 8 of 13 shots for a team-high 19 points with nine boards; however, he went 0 for 4 from long range with three turnovers. Freshman G Tre Mann stepped up in a major way with 13 points on 3 of 4 shooting from long range. Redshirt senior F Kerry Blackshear Jr.’s scoring contributions (18 points) and effort off the glass (six boards) were outweighed by five costly turnovers. Odds and ends: Sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard had six assists and six rebounds, but he made just 1 of 6 shots with four turnovers in a terrible road effort during a game in which he was sorely needed … hot-shooting sophomore G Noah Locke, who played a huge role in the Gators’ three-game winning streak, missed all five of his attempts from downtown and did not score in 24 minutes … UK dominated UF scoring in the paint (36-26), on the fastbreak (10-0) and off turnovers (20-12) … the Gators went 1 of 9 from three in the second half … Florida fell to 40-103 all-time vs. Kentucky, including 10-53 in Rupp and 3-6 under head coach Mike White … UF has not defeated a top-10 UK team in Rupp since 1998 … the Wildcats have won three straight vs. the Gators What it means: Florida wasted an opportunity at a Quadrant 1 victory, “wasted” because — despite this game being on the road against a top-10 team — it was close enough throughout the contest that a win was definitely possible if it did not suffer scoring and turnover troubles. The loss will not ultimately hurt the Gators, though a victory may have taken them off the bubble — at least for a while. What’s next? Florida will host LSU on Wednesday at 9 p.m. in a game that will air live nationally on ESPN2. The Gators fell 84-82 at the Tigers back on Jan. 21. #RuppArena #AndrewNembhard #KentuckyWildcats

Just one week ago, Florida Gators basketball was on top of the world and looked to have potentially turned a corner after knocking off a top-five team at home in its most complete effort of the season. Seven days later, Florida proved it is exactly the team we have seen for the rest of the 2019-20 season when it fell 72-61 in its toughest test yet against the No. 1 Baylor Bears inside the friendly confines of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The Gators (12-7) led by as many as eight points in the first half before falling off massively before halftime. They were never able to recover and wound up falling by double digits despite being just the fourth unranked team in the last 25 to enter the game as a favorite against the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25. The Bears (17-1) continued their magical season by proving they are simply on a different tier. What went down Saturday night in Florida’s latest loss? Let’s take a look with some fastbreak takeaways from the game. It was over when … Baylor quickly increased its lead to 19 points with an 11-2 run early in the second half. That extended its scoring stretch to 26-7 spanning halftime as it also ended the first 20 minutes with a 13-2 streak. Over that time, Florida went 2 of 17 from the field (1 of 10 to end the first half, 1 of 7 to start the second) and began the latter period 0 of 5 from beyond the arc. The Gators did cut their deficit to 10 with a 6-0 run in the final few minutes but never got closer as they missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-ones that could have helped them make a greater push. Florida led by as many as eight points in the first half, seeing a 19-point swing as Baylor took an 11-point lead at the break. Exceptional efforts: Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson was the only consistent scorer on the evening, hitting 9 of 17 shots for a game-high 20 points with five rebounds. After making just one of his first seven shots, sophomore point guard Andrew Nembhard hit five of his final seven, scoring 12 points in the second half and 16 for the game to go along with eight assists and just one turnover. Odds and ends: The Gators went 1 of 8 from long range in the second half … Baylor outrebounded Florida 37-26 (24-18 defensive, 13-8 offensive) … the Gators had just half as many turnovers (7-13) and dominated paint scoring (32-10) but had little help from their bench (11-21) … UF fell to 2-17 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams, 0-14 in the regular season … it is 1-6 vs. AP Top 5 and 15-26 against AP Top 25 teams under head coach Mike White (2-2 this season) … Saturday was Florida’s first game vs. a No. 1 team other than Kentucky in the O’Dome What it means: The Gators are who we thought they were. When the shots are falling, they can play with most teams in the nation. When they do not fall, Florida cannot manufacture points, and its defense falls apart as it tires out from lack of depth, particularly in the paint. Neither Nembhard nor redshirt senior F Kerry Blackshear Jr. (nine points, 3 of 5 FG) nor sophomore guard Noah Locke (three points, 1 of 5 FG) are consistent enough to be counted on game to game. Nembhard may be one day. Blackshear is either in foul trouble, suddenly lacking aggressiveness or just missing shots. Locke can be hot for long stretches but then go ice cold. This is certainly not a championship team, and it’s not even a top 25 team. It is a NCAA Tournament team, but at 12-7, it still has work ahead of itself. What’s next? After losing back-to-back games for the first time this season, Florida will remain home to host Mississippi State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET in a game that will air live nationally on SEC Network. #AndrewNembhard #BaylorBears #KerryBlackshear