GAINESVILLE, Fla. _ On Friday, Florida coach Mike White was asked where his team would be without graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr.
"Good question," he said. "In a world of hurt.
"The more he touches it the better we are. Defensively, he's been an anchor. From a consistency, toughness, intelligence, focus standpoint; scouting report, preparation standpoint he's the guy."
That was on display Saturday as Kentucky rallied to defeat Florida, 71-70.
Because of a wrist injury, Blackshear played only 12 minutes, and just two in a second half that saw Kentucky erase an 18-point deficit.
UK scored 18 of its 28 points in the paint during the second half. Fifteen of the 21 second-chance points came in that time.
Fittingly, EJ Montgomery's tip-in with 11.6 seconds left put Kentucky ahead 71-70. It was UK's first lead. It was Montgomery's second basket and second rebound.
UK (25-6, 15-3 SEC) won when Andrew Nembhard's 3-point shot in the final seconds twice bounced off the rim and fell off.
Kentucky had its own handicap. Before the game, UK coach John Calipari tweeted that point guard Ashton Hagans did not make the trip for "personal reasons."
Without their lead guard and defensive disrupter, Kentucky twice fell behind by 18 points midway through the second half.
Nick Richards led UK with 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half.
Immanuel Quickley and Keion Brooks added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The first half made it immediately clear that Kentucky was not the same team without Hagans. UK never led in the opening 20 minutes, trailed by as much as 11 points on four occasions.
The halftime deficit of 40-30 suggested Kentucky missed Hagans, the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year last season. It was the most points Kentucky had given up in a first half this season, eclipsing the 37 scored by Ohio State, Georgia in Athens and Auburn in Rupp Arena last weekend.
Florida made 55.6% of its shots (15 of 27). The Gators' five 3-point baskets were one shy of the six they made in the first game against Kentucky.
On Friday, not knowing Hagans would not make the trip, White had said of UK's guards, "I can't imagine there's a better defensive backcourt in the country."
Lewis led the way for the Gators, scoring 13 points in the half.
With UK coaches already on record as saying the team had a smaller than usual margin for error, Hagans' absence would seem to put that in capital letters.
UK gave up two corner 3-pointers, a no-no that Calipari frequently mentions.
It didn't help any when Quickley picked up his second foul with 7:22 left in the half.
Then there was Brooks picked up his second foul 25 feet from the basket, which put Florida shooting the one-and-one with 5:24 left.
And Richards made UK's uphill climb all the steeper by making only one of seven shots.
Perhaps trying to reorient Kentucky, Calipari called a timeout less than two minutes into the game. UK already trailed 7-0.
Kentucky got no closer than 11-9. Then, Florida took control from there.
If Kentucky was going to add to this SEC season of eye-catching comebacks, the first part of the second half gave no hint of it.
If anything, Kentucky's situation grew direr.
Florida twice expanded its game-long lead to 18 points. Inside the first eight minutes, Calipari received a warning for being out of the coaches' box (18:13), then technicals apparently for the same reason at 14:46 and 12:36.
Kentucky kept competing. Brooks, who came into the game having made 3 of 17 3-point shots, made two. His second reduced the deficit to 61-51 with 8:36 left.
That came 28 seconds after Quickley fouled out.
Led by its "bigs," Kentucky kept charging.
