Meeks' three wins game

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x140291478/Meeks-hits-3-UK-beats-Florida

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jodie Meeks scored 23 points, including a fade-away 3-pointer with under 5 seconds left, as Kentucky snapped a three-game losing streak with a critical 68-65 victory over Florida on Tuesday night.

With the game tied at 65, the Southeastern Conference scoring leader swished in the closely guarded shot.

Florida got an opportunity to tie when Kentucky's Kevin Galloway fouled Nick Calathes while trying a last-second desperation heave. But Calathes missed all three shots, the last one intentionally, as Kentucky held on.

The loss spoiled a huge night for Calathes, who scored a career-high 33 points and joined the career 1,000-point club — the eighth-fastest Gator to do so.

Kentucky (17-7, 6-3) pulled into a tie with Florida (19-5, 6-3) atop the SEC East, and avoided matching the second-longest conference losing streak in school history.

While Meeks put the Wildcats on his back at the end, a balanced offense was needed to outlast Calathes' scoring barrage.

That was particularly so midway through the second half, when Kentucky's other star, center Patrick Patterson, got tripped up during a layup attempt and was slammed to the floor. He stayed there for more than two minutes before limping off with an apparent leg injury that would sideline him for the rest of the game.

For most of the game, Meeks hardly resembled the scorer who set a Kentucky single-game record with 54 points against Tennessee last month. He made just 3 of 10 3-pointers in this contest.

Less-heralded guard Michael Porter needed just four attempts to match that total, and even the one he missed was productive as Perry Stevenson grabbed the rebound and dunked it home, giving the Wildcats a 48-47 lead.

It was one of nine lead changes in the game, along with six ties.

For a Kentucky offense that revolves around the inside-outside combination of Patterson and Meeks, that pair did virtually nothing in the final 11 minutes of the first half, when Florida appeared poised to run away.

After Meeks banked in a 3-pointer to cut an eight-point Florida lead to 14-9, Meeks and Patterson didn't score from the floor again before halftime. Patterson's free throw with 2 minutes left was his lone point of the half.

Yet the Wildcats gained ground on the Gators by getting the next 19 points from the floor from a less-heralded combination of Porter, Stevenson, Josh Harrellson and Kevin Galloway.

Harrellson (11), Stevenson (10) and Porter (9) trailed Meeks in scoring, and Galloway led the team with a career-high nine assists.

Kentucky's victory was the second straight over Florida, which had won the previous seven meetings. Even before tipoff, the Rupp Arena fans voiced their anti-Florida sentiments, loudly booing coach Billy Donovan, who had been mentioned as a candidate to take over at Kentucky before Billy Gillispie prior to last season.