National Basketball Association
Florida 67, Kansas 61
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida
Officials:
# Patrick Adams, # James Breeding, # Tony Greene
Attendance:
12423
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 19 Florida 67, No. 13 Kansas 61: Scottie Wilbekin scored a career-high 18 points as the Gators forced a season-high 24 turnovers to down the visiting Jayhawks in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Wilbekin added six assists and four steals while Dorian Finney-Smith contributed 15 points for Florida (7-2), which has won 22 straight non-conference home games. Casey Prather – the team’s leading scorer – overcame a quiet 1-of-5 effort from the field with 10 of his 12 points over the final 3:12 as the Gators overcame a season-low 37 percent shooting effort.
Freshman Andrew Wiggins set career highs with 26 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas (6-3), which is off to its worst nine-game start since 2005. The Jayhawks’ 24 miscues matched their most since a win against Missouri on March 5, 2011.
Florida missed eight of its first nine shots and quickly fell behind 10-3, but utilized a 1-3-1 half-court trap to force Kansas into 16 first-half turnovers. The Jayhawks committed six turnovers and missed eight shots over the next 8:43, allowing the Gators to go on a 21-0 run and take a 36-21 halftime advantage behind three 3-pointers and 12 first-half points from Finney-Smith.
Kansas was unable to get any closer than eight points until the final minutes when Wiggins hit three straight 3-pointers over a 1:28 span to close the gap to 60-55 with 56 seconds remaining. The Jayhawks could get no closer than four, however, as Kasey Hill and Prather combined for seven free throws thereafter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Big 12 fell to 6-3 in the Challenge with one game remaining between Oklahoma and Texas A&M on Dec. 21. … Kansas’ 16 first-half turnovers matched its season high for a game. … Finney-Smith – a Virginia Tech transfer who connected on five of his first 17 3-point attempts over the team’s first eight games – went 4-of-6 beyond the arc Tuesday.
Top Game Performances
| Kansas |
|
Florida |
|
Andrew Wiggins 26 |
Scoring |
Scottie Wilbekin 18 |
|
Naadir Tharpe 5 |
Assists |
Scottie Wilbekin 6 |
|
Andrew Wiggins 11 |
Rebounds |
Casey Prather 8 |
|
Andrew Wiggins 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Casey Prather 10 |
|
Perry Ellis 2 |
Steals |
Scottie Wilbekin 4 |
|
Joel Embiid 3 |
Blocks |
Patric Young 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kansas
|
61 |
43.2 |
8-19 |
15-19 |
11 |
36 |
6 |
5 |
24 |
| Florida
|
67 |
37.0 |
7-14 |
20-34 |
12 |
30 |
1 |
10 |
8 |
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