Freshman Cason Wallace scored 20 points, Jacob Toppin had a double-double and Kentucky never trailed in a 72-67 victory over Florida on Saturday night.
Wallace made 7 of 10 shots from the floor with a 3-pointer and all five of his free throws for the Wildcats (16-7, 7-3 SEC). Toppin scored 17 on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. CJ Fredrick hit three 3-pointers and scored 12. Oscar Tshiebwe totaled four points and 15 rebounds before fouling out. He made only 2 of 14 shots.
Colin Castleton finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Gators (13-10, 6-4), who had won 6 of 7 and were coming off a 67-54 win over No. 2 Tennessee last time out. Kyle Lofton and Will Richard scored 13 points apiece. Richard added six rebounds.
Toppin and Fredrick scored nine points apiece and Wallace added eight as the trio accounted for all but seven points in Kentucky’s 33-22 lead at the half. The Wildcats scored the first five points of the game and pushed their lead to 20-9 on Fredrick’s three-point play at the 7:48 mark. The Gators cut their deficit to eight, but Fredrick sank a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left for the halftime margin.
