By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
The name of the arena has changed, but eighth-ranked Kentucky is expecting the same type of atmosphere this weekend when the Wildcats take on Florida at the Exatech Arena in Gainesville.
“It’s probably the hardest place to play in,” Kentucky senior Derek Willis said Friday. “I mean, the environment is so humid. You get in the gym and the fans are right on top of you. It’s just a hard environment to play in. With (ESPN) College GameDay too being there, I mean, it’s going to make it that much more tough.”
Just as Willis predicts, Kentucky assistant coach Joel Justus said the environment will provide a tough challenge for the Wildcats, making their first appearance in the renovated O’Connell Center.
“I feel like it’s been (College) GameDay down there every year,” Justus said. “They have great fan support. I think it’s a tough place to play because of the guys that are in the uniforms. That has a little bit more to do with it than the fans or arena. They have very good basketball players and are very well-coached. That’s something that presents a bigger problem at times rather than however many thousand folks that are there for that game.”
In order to overcome the atmosphere, Willis said the Wildcats can’t back down from start to finish and handle the adversity of playing in the road. In its last game away from Rupp Arena, Kentucky suffered an 82-80 setback at Tennessee.
“(We’ve) just got to be prepared, take the fight to them right from the jump,” he said. “They’re going to be ready for us. I think they’re a top-25 team. They’re good. They can beat you. (We’ve) just gotta show up.”
The 24th-ranked Gators (17-5, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) have won three straight games — all blowouts — since suffering back-to-back conference losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt last month. Florida’s latest victory was a 93-54 rout of struggling Missouri Thursday night.
“It was kind of like getting hit by a train,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said following his team’s setback to the Gators Thursday. “They’re playing at a high rate right now.”
Justus hasn’t been surprised by Florida’s recent surge.
“When you have guys that have been through the wars of the SEC, that helps you,” he said. “And you can tell (they’re) well coached. They’re disciplined. (They) play very hard. They are doing what they do well, and that’s something as a coach you – I would imagine for them – they feel good about.”
Florida coach Mike White, now in his second season with the Gators, likes the way his team responded following the two conference losses last month.
“We’re in a good place,” White said. “I don’t want to sit here and say how good we’re going to play Saturday or how many games we’re going to win (but this) doesn’t guarantee anything. But, these past few games have gotten us into a very good place, which gives us a chance to play well in the next (game).”
Unlike the Florida, the Wildcats (18-4, 8-1) have struggled during the past two weeks, but got back on track after losing two straight with a 90-81 overtime win over Georgia earlier this week. Willis doesn’t think Kentucky is in a lull but said the Wildcats are “just kind of in a little tough spot.”
“But we know what to do,” he said. “All of our fixes I feel like they’re simple. We just gotta get out there and do it. I stand by my statement that we’re the most talented team in the nation and we can go as far as we want to carry ourselves. We’ve just gotta crack down on some things and we’ll be all right.”
Justus didn’t say whether or not De’Aaron Fox would be available after sitting out the team’s last game because of an undisclosed illness but said the Wildcats will be prepared with or without their starting point guard.
“Regardless of who plays, as you know, we’ll put our best team out there,” he said.
Gametracker: Kentucky at Florida, 8:15 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter