Allen’s breakout performance propels Florida past Arkansas and into first place

FINAL: FLORIDA 88, ARKANSAS 73

GAINESVILLE, FL- Florida’s sleeping giant may have awoken on Wednesday night, and if so, the whole SEC had better be on notice.

Florida’s junior guard KeVaughn Allen, who had made only 7 of his previous 24 shots, finished with a season high 28 points on only twelve shot attempts to lead the Gators past Arkansas 88-73.

Florida raced to a 15 point first half lead while knocking down 11 of their first 15 attempts from the field.

Arkansas managed to close the gap to single digits in the second half, but the Gators regained composure to complete the route.

Jalen Hudson added 26 points off the bench for Florida while Egor Koulechov contributed twelve more. Hudson also chipped in a team high nine boards. Senior point guard Chris Chiozza finished with a stat line of 7 points and 9 assists.

Chiozza exited the game midway through the first half after getting hit in the face with an elbow, but returned after being evaluated (and cleared) for a concussion.

Arkansas was led by senior guard Jaylen Barford who finished with 28 points.

With Auburn’s loss to Alabama on Wednesday, Florida is now tied with the Tigers atop the SEC standings.

Florida will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats in a primetime matchup on Saturday. ESPN’s Gameday will broadcast from Rupp Arena in anticipation of the matchup

RECORDS:

• ARKANSAS: 12-6 (2-4 SEC)
• FLORIDA: 13-5 (5-1 SEC)

Team Stats:

What’s Next:

Florida travels to Rupp Arena to face rival Kentucky in a huge SEC matchup. Kentucky enters the contest 14-4 overall and 4-2 in the league. In their most recent contest, the Wildcats lost at South Carolina 76-68. Kentucky led that game late, but blew a 14 point lead. Freshman forward Kevin Knox finished the game with 21 points and 8 rebounds, and could pose a matchup nightmare with Florida’s lack of interior depth.

Florida vs Kentucky

January 20, 2018

8:15 PM / Exactech Arena

ESPN