Two-thirds of its way through Southeastern Conference play, 14th-ranked Florida is checking off all the boxes as the best squad in the conference.
Winners of 10 of their past 11 contests, the Gators will host South Carolina on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla., in the second matchup between the clubs.
First-place Florida (19-6, 10-2 SEC) strengthened its hold atop the standings with a wire-to-wire 92-83 victory over No. 25 Kentucky.
For the most part of the first of two meetings against the Wildcats, the Gators were not pressured, answering every run by Kentucky with one of their own, including a final push that brought the visitors to within five points in the final minute.
During a crucial second-half stretch, the Wildcats trimmed it to 56-51, but Florida sharpshooter Urban Klavzar hopped off the bench and netted eight points in just over four minutes to increase the gap to 72-58 and stem the comeback bid.
A native of Domzale, Slovenia, Klavzar has emerged as a reliable weapon for the reigning national champs, whose biggest question mark in repeating is likely backcourt play.
The junior guard said he and his positional group realized they had to shoot better and have spent time lately putting in the work.
“I feel like we started to work together a little more, like shooting-wise, working out together (with all) the guards,” Klavzar said. “I feel like that gives you some more confidence, some more chemistry. That helps.”
He made two key treys: One on Kentucky’s breakdown on zone defense, another on a late switch.
In all, he sank 7 of 13 shots, including 5 of 11 from distance, for 19 points, one off his season high set in a loss against TCU on Nov. 27.
Klavzar averages 10.1 points per game and makes 39.1% (54 of 138) from beyond the arc, the latter easily being the club’s best showing.
Reserve guard Isaiah Brown (5.1 points) makes 36.4% of his attempts from 3-point range, Thomas Haugh (17.5 points) is at 33.8% and Xaivian Lee (11.4 points) shoots 27%.
At South Carolina on Jan. 28, Florida got 18 points from Haugh to steamroll the Gamecocks (11-14, 2-10) in a 95-48 embarrassment, the host’s worst setback this season.
Following its 89-75 defeat at Alabama on Saturday, South Carolina has lost six straight contests and nine of the past 10, keeping coach Lamont Paris’ squad in a last-place tie with LSU.
The Gamecocks beat the Tigers on Jan. 6 in their second conference game, but the only other victory was a month ago in an 85-76 decision over Oklahoma.
Against the Crimson Tide, South Carolina’s leading scorer, Meechie Johnson, did not do much in the first half, scoring two points on 1 of 4 shooting, but he responded by going 7 of 13 in the second.
Johnson tops the squad in three categories: points (16.7), assists (4.2) and steals (1.3). He shoots 33.1% (45 of 136) from long range.
“He was just not aggressive in the first half, and was very aggressive in the second half,” Paris said. “So whatever was happening with him, that changed in the second half, and he was the guy we’ve grown to love and expect to play well.”
Mike Sharavjamts scores 10.9 points and tops the team with 5.5 rebounds. Kobe Knox and Elijah Strong net 10.5 apiece.
–Field Level Media
