Florida basketball will enter one of the toughest road environments in college basketball when it plays No. 8 Kentucky on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. (8 p.m., ESPN).
The Florida Gators (14-6, 4-3 SEC) are 1-3 on the road this season and picked up their first road of the season earlier this month, beating Missouri 79-67 on Jan. 20.
But Rupp Arena, with its 23,000 frenzied fans, presents a louder, more hostile place to play.
“The one thing that’s good about it is none of the 23,000 people are going to come on the court and shoot or try to block my shot,” Florida starting forward Tyrese Samuel said. “But I heard it’s crazy there and I heard it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be an intense game so I’m excited.”
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Samuel, a transfer from Seton Hall, will be among a majority of UF players who will be playing at Rupp for the first time in their careers. Others include transfer guards Walter Clayton Jr. (Iona) and Zyon Pullin (UC Riverside) and incoming freshmen forwards Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh.
Florida coach Todd Golden is 0-1 at Rupp Arena, as the Gators lost 72-67 at Kentucky last season.
“It’s a great venue and historic in our game,” Golden said. “But I feel like every road venue in our league is tough to play in, whether it’s Kentucky or Missouri or any different school. The crowds in this league is fantastic and there’s a just of great support in these places.
“The thing about Kentucky, it’s just really big. What I remember from last year, we did a decent job of keeping the crowd out of it, but at certain moments when they’d make plays it would get pretty loud in there. So just trying to dictate tempo, dictate pace and do a really good job of slowing them down those are kind of things I would point to try and keep the crowd out of the game.”
Overall, Florida is 5-20 in its last 25 meetings at Kentucky, dating back to 1998.
Here’s a look at the last five Florida teams that won at Rupp Arena:
2021: Florida basketball 71, Kentucky 67
During the 2020-21 pandemic season, Florida downed Kentucky at Rupp 71-67 on Feb. 27 on the way to its last NCAA Tournament appearance following the 2021 season. Point guard Tre Mann led the way for the Gators with 21 points and 8 rebounds, while center Colin Castleton had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
2018: Florida basketball 66, Kentucky 64
Point guard Chris Chiozza had 13 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds and UF made a late defensive stand to upset the Wildcats at Rupp. Egor Koulechov, Jalen Hudson and Kevarrius Hayes all came up with blocks in the closing seconds to prevent UK from scoring potential tying and go-ahead baskets.
2014: Florida basketball 69, Kentucky 59
Casey Prather had 24 points and 4 steals and Scottie Wilbekin added 23 points and 2 assists, lifting the Gators to the win during their last Final Four season. Florida trailed 31-28 at halftime but scored 41 points in the second half and pulled away down the stretch to continue its undefeated SEC campaign.
2007: Florida basketball 64, Kentucky 61
Corey Brewer had 16 points and 7 rebounds and Taurean Green added 13 points and 3 assists, lifting Florida to the win. Defensively, Florida smothered the Wildcats, holding them to 38.3 percent from the floor and 13.6 percent shooting from 3-point range.
2006: Florida basketball 79, Kentucky 64
Lee Humphrey led three scorers in double figures with 17 points, going 4 of 11 from 3-point range to lift Florida to its first win at Rupp in eight years. Joakim Noah posted a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds), while Al Horford had 13 points. Florida outrebounded Kentucky 39-27 and held the Wildcats to 37.9 percent shooting from the floor.