No. 22 KENTUCKY at FLORIDA

STAKES, STARS AND STATS

John Egbunu

Jamal Murray

SOME NUMBERS OF NOTE

Chris Chiozza

WATCH FOR IT

Tuesday, 7 p.m. (ET)O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.Florida (17-12, 8-8), Kentucky (21-8, 11-5)SEC Network (withandGator IMG Sports Network (withand). Check for availability here The home finale for a Florida team in an utter free fall, having lost three straight and ousted from most projected NCAA Tournament brackets. Kentucky, meanwhile, is in a tie with Texas A&M for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings, but just a game up on three other teams tied for second. ... The Wildcats lead the all-time series 98-37, including four straight victories, plus a 34-24 advantage in Gainesville. The two teams met Feb. 6 at Lexington with UK crushing the Gators 80-61 behind 35 points from freshman guard, who made 13 of his 21 shots and went 8-for-10 from the 3-point line. UF fell behind in that one 24-5 barely six minutes in and was never competitive. ... The game will mark the final home date for the Gators before construction workers attack the $65 million renovation to the facility. The next time the team plays a home game at the O'Dome is expected to be January 2017 to start the SEC season.The stakes are pretty clear cut. Florida's tailspin -- losses at South Carolina, then home against Vanderbilt and Saturday at LSU -- makes this one a must-win situation as far as its NCAA hopes go. Complicating matters is a defense that has imploded the last two games, allowing a combined 57 percent shooting from the floor and 47.4 from the 3-point line in the losses to the last two losses -- and now faces the top-ranked shooting team in the league (.472). ... UF will honor forward(14.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg), the team's scoring and rebounding leader, during a pregame senior night ceremony. The 6-8 forward from Virginia sits at 42nd on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,121 points. Forward, who has played just three games this season due to a plantar fascia tear on his foot, also will be saluted before the game. Murphy's last appearance was Jan. 4 in a loss at Tennessee. ... Sophomore center(11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) has totaled 36 points in his last two games (including a career-high 22 at LSU), representing his largest output for back-to-back games this season. ... Sophomore forward(9.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg) is in the best shooting groove of his career in averaging 14.3 points on 15-for-29 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the 3-point line. His presence on the perimeter, though, has come at the expense of rebounding; just two in the last two games. The way UF struggles to score at times, that may be a tradeoff the Gators need to live with. ... Backup point guardmade nine of his 14 shots the last two games, even knocked down a couple 3s, and went 3-for-4 from the foul line. He also had five assists versus five turnovers.They're looking to clinch a share of another SEC title while playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Ho-hum. ... The Cats have dropped two of three, including Saturday's 74-62 setback at Vandy when the Commodores stormed to take the lead early in the second half and their fans stormed the court afterward. ... Murray (19.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg) is the scoring man for UK, what with his 91 makes from deep this season tops in the SEC. Murray, however, is not The Man for the Cats. That designation belongs to point guard(16.6 ppg, 7.0 apg), who is the engine that drives the Kentucky machine and alongside Murray makes up arguably the top backcourt in the nation. Ulis ran circles through and around the Gators in the first meeting, finishing with 18 points and 11 assists. Nobody could slow him down. Not many have this season. ... Forward(9.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg), a rare Kentucky senior and regular, missed the first meeting with a knee injury, but the Cats didn't need him. Without the 6-8, 230-pounder they still shot 52 percent and bombed UF on the glass 37-28. ... The status of 6-9, 220-pound forward(7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), out the last two games after suffering an ankle sprain in a loss at Texas A&M, remains in doubt for the game. Willis did start running on the injury Monday. More than likely, it'll be a game-time decision. ... Coachis 11-5 against the Gators in his seven seasons at UK.-- Sophomore point guardassist-to-turnover ratio over the past seven games, five of which were losses (19 assists, 23 turnovers).-- Freshman guard3-point shooting percentage during UF's three-game losing skid. He's 0-for-10.-- Points needed by Finney-Smith to pass both(1,123) and(1,133) on UF's scoring list and climb into the all-time Top 40.Consecutive games at least one Kentucky player has scored at least 20 points, which is the longest such streak in the program since the Wildcats went 21 straight in 1989-90.-- Minutes played this year by Murphy due to his foot injury that came in the opening minutes of the Nov. 5 exhibition game against Palm Beach Atlantic. Murphy returned to make his season debut for eight minutes against Oklahoma State at Sunrise on Dec. 19, then got 11 minutes against Jacksonville and four at Tennessee before aggravating the injury.A heaping helping of Cats fans, of course. With it being spring break -- and a mid-week game -- there will be tickets to be had for Big Blue Nation. The goal for O'Dome officials will be to keep the UKs out of the lower bowl ... and definitely out of the Rowdy Reptile section.