Down three with the clock winding under 15 seconds left, the Gators had one final shot to keep their hopes of earning a Quad-I victory over the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats inside Rupp Arena alive.
Junior Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. answered the call.
Rececing the ball just off-center from the top of the key, Clayton got Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard to jump past him on the fly-by before resetting himself to sink the game-tying three-pointer. His sixth triple of the night proved to be the most important, as the bucket extended the Gators’ chances to knock off the ‘Cats.
In overtime, Clayon struck again to bury another shot from beyond the arc. It ultimately proved to be the difference in Florida’s 94-91 win.
The Gators advance to 15-6 (5-3 SEC) and extend their current win streak to four with the impressive triumph.
Despite the early expectation of a fast-developing, offensively oriented affair, defense reigned supreme in the early going as each unit shot under 40% from the field through the first 8:30 of action. The contest was tied at 14 at that time.