LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Tayshaun Prince thought he was coming off
the week of his life.
Prince, a 6-foot-9 junior, made 19 of 32 shots and scored 52 points in
road wins over Georgia and South Carolina last week to thrust
Kentucky into first place in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern
Division.
|  | | Tayshaun Prince drives past Florida's Brent Wright to take what proved to be the deciding shot in the closing seconds of Kentucky's 71-70 upset win. |
He scored only 19 against division-rival Florida on Tuesday
night, but the final two may have been the biggest of his career.
His running hook shot in the lane with 3.3 seconds remaining gave
Kentucky a 71-70 victory over the Gators (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP).
"When I get close to the paint, I'm putting the shot up,"
Prince said. "I've been shooting that shot for a long time. I'm
used to that shot, and I practice it all the time.
"You have to remain calm in those types of situations. You have
to be patient. Our team was patient, and that's why the shot was
open for me at the end of the game."
The victory was the fourth straight for Kentucky (14-7, 7-2) and
strengthened its hold on first place in the division over Georgia
and Florida (15-5, 5-4). It also was Tubby Smith's 100th as
Kentucky's coach.
"With the atmosphere and what was on the line, we knew it would
be a great game," said Smith, who reached 100 wins faster than any
Kentucky coach since Adolph Rupp.
"Billy Donovan plays an uptempo style, we play an uptempo
style. They are hot, we are hot. They're also a highly ranked team.
All those story lines helped make it a great game."
Prince was 8-for-18 from the field and grabbed six rebounds.
Freshman Gerald Fitch added 12 points and Jason Parker had 10
for the Wildcats, who have won 11 of 13 games – including five over
ranked opponents – since an uncharacteristic 3-5 start.
Brett Nelson scored 18 points and Teddy Dupay and Udonis Haslem
added 15 each to lead Florida, which erased a 13-point deficit over
the final 16 minutes and had a four-game winning streak snapped.
"I thought we showed tremendous character and heart in the
second half," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We played
passionately and we were driven, the way I wanted us to play, and
we had a chance to win."
Nelson's 3-pointer gave Florida a 70-67 lead with 1:51
remaining. Marvin Stone then scored inside for Kentucky with 1:35
to play to cut the lead to one.
The Gators had two opportunities to score in the final 90
seconds but were turned away by the Wildcats' stingy defense.
Following a Kentucky timeout with 10.4 seconds to play, Prince
took the ball on the right wing and drove into the lane. He hit the
tough shot over 6-9 forward Brent Wright and Florida called a
timeout as Prince's teammates mobbed him at midcourt.
"I felt that Brent did as good of a job defending Tayshaun
Prince as he could have," Donovan said. "Give him credit. He made
a terrific shot.
"He slipped and almost fell down but was able to regain his
balance, get into the lane and take an off-balance shot that went
in."
Nelson then took a pass at halfcourt but launched an off-balance
shot while falling out of bounds as time expired.
"I knew the ball was going out of bounds, so I tried to throw
it toward the rim in the hope that someone would tip it in,"
Nelson said.
The Gators shot 44 percent to Kentucky's 41 percent and
outrebounded the Wildcats 39-37. But they dug themselves an early
hole, trailing by 14 at halftime, and then failed to put the game
away with a three-point lead in the final two minutes.
"We had a chance to win, but we couldn't pull it off," said
Haslem, who scored 15 points in the second half. "In this league,
you have to play two complete halves. You can't win with just
one."
Up 27-26, Prince scored five points during a 10-1 run as
Kentucky took a 37-27 lead with just under three minutes remaining
in the first half. A 6-0 run over the final 1:15 gave the Wildcats
a 45-31 halftime lead.
Florida scored the first six points of the second half to pull
to 45-37. Following a 3-pointer by Prince and a layup by Keith
Bogans, Haslem scored 10 of the Gators' next 12 points to cut the
lead to 57-49 with 11:13 remaining.
Dupay's long 3-pointer and Nelson's running jumper in the paint
narrowed the gap to 57-54 with eight minutes left. Following a
basket inside by Parker, Florida again scored six straight points
to take its first lead of the half, 60-59, with 5:25 to play.
Dupay's two free throws pushed the lead to 67-64 with 2:33
remaining and Fitch's 3 tied the game at 67 with 2:15 remaining.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Kentucky Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tayshaun Prince hits the game-winning shot with 3.3 seconds to play.
avi: 1108 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Tayshaun Prince gets the rebound and goes coast-to-coast for the finger-roll.
avi: 664 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jason Parker snares the rebound and powers his way for the put-back.
avi: 772 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Saul Smith pushes the ball up court to a streaking Gerald Fitch for the layin.
avi: 703 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Off the Kentucky turnover, Teddy Dupay drives the lane for the layup.
avi: 765 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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