Is the third time the charm? Kentucky kept it close against Florida in Gainesville. In the regular season finale at Rupp, the Wildcats fell down early, but made it a respectable 7-point margin of defeat. Kentucky is the only team to keep it within single digits of Florida since January. Can they get over the hump at the SEC Tournament?

The Wildcats got two games to rev their engines, escaping Bridgestone Arena with a 78-72 victory over Missouri on Thursday. This is Florida’s second straight game against Kentucky. The Gators were 5.5-point favorites last time. That number is much larger at a neutral site.

Florida opens as an 11.5-point favorite over Kentucky. The total is 159.5, giving us a projected final score of 85.5-74.

KenPom has a projected final score of 83-73 in favor of the Gators. Bart Torvik is giving Florida one more point in his forecast.

Kentucky has been an underdog in eight SEC games. They’ve covered the spread four times, with outright wins at Arkansas and Tennessee.

The Cats and the Gators have met in the SEC Tournament 10 times since 1985, most recently in 2015. Kentucky is 7-3 over Florida during that run, and 13-4 all-time in the SEC Tournament. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm and the Wildcats can tally another in the win column on Friday afternoon.

[9] Kentucky vs. [1] Florida: How to Watch, Listen

Tipoff: 1:00 p.m. ET

TV: SEC Network (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Alyssa Lang)

Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)

AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP

FM: 98.1 WBUL

Online: iHeart Radio

Sirius XM: 106 or 190

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

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