By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky nearly has its roster intact.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) likely will have all hands on deck when they take on Florida Wednesday night in the first of two straight home games.
“We haven’t had that all year, but I think it’s exciting that we have depth,” Kentucky assistant coach Chuck Martin said Tuesday. “I think other teams around the country, they don’t have the depth that we have. And as we’re trying to continue through this journey this season, when we get that full roster, it allows us to have different rotations.”
Kentucky freshman Rob Dillingham missed the team’s 63-57 win at Arkansas Saturday because of stomach virus, but is expected to return to the court against the Gators. Florida (14-6, 4-3) has won three in a row and four of its past five games, including a 102-98 overtime victory over Georgia in its last outing.
The Wildcats edged the Gators 87-85 on Jan, 6 in Gainesville. Martin said both teams have changed since the first meeting between the two league foes, but added rebounding will still be a priority the second time around.
“We’ve gotten better (and) they’ve gotten better,” Martin said. “One of the things that they do as well as anyone in the country, they’re No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding. They’ve got great size. They do a great job of positioning themselves on the low blocks. They did a great job the first game (against us). We anticipate those guys doing a really good job tomorrow night. We’ve got to box out, drive guys out and not let them get second and third opportunities.”
Kentucky has made strides on the defensive end, especially in the second half at Arkansas. Martin said the Wildcats simply were “connected” against the Razorbacks.
“As the season goes on you start to become more confident. defensively and offensively.” he said. “I think our offense was a little bit ahead of our defense earlier this season. But you’re starting to see signs of our defense really coming along.
“I think the other night at Arkansas was a great example of what we could be defensively. We were connected. We communicated. We knew the rotations, the assignments. It was a good game for us.”
Kentucky’s lineup of Reed Sheppard, Antonio Reeves, D.J. Wagner, Tre Mitchell and Ugonna Onyenso was been the team’s most consistent combination against Arkansas. Onyenso’s presence in the post proved to be beneficial with his shot-blocking ability.
”When you see him live, he’s one of the biggest human beings in the league,” he said. “The way he can move for his size defensively and pick and roll is unbelievable. When you have a guy with that size and that type of agility defensively, it gives everyone on the floor courage that we can accomplish this rotation. He’s been huge for us.”
Gametracker: Florida at Kentucky, 8 p.m., Wednesday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.