By MICHAEL SMITH
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

Kentucky's Gerald Fitch, left, and Keith Bogans run a little smack at the Florida student section after the game. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - University of Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes pointed to the Florida student section and said, "Go home." Guards Keith Bogans and Gerald Fitch tugged at the letters spelling Kentucky on their jerseys and shouted, "Read this." They were living in the moment, soaking in the sweetness of perfection.

Several minutes after finally extinguishing the Gators 69-67 Saturday, the Wildcats remained on the O'Connell Center court, patting each other on the back and sharing hugs.

It wasn't the exuberance of, say, a national championship so much as it was the satisfaction of completing a long, hard journey. It wasn't a fist-pumping moment, but more of a time for firm handshakes and knowing nods of the head.

Just once before in the past 47 years had a team gone 16-0 in the Southeastern Conference, that in 1996, when the Wildcats of coach Rick Pitino swept through the league without a loss.

"To do something that very few teams have done puts a real asterisk, a real stamp on this team," said Tubby Smith, who succeeded Pitino as UK's coach. "A lot of people, a lot of Kentucky teams, will measure themselves against this team and what it has accomplished."

The completion of perfection didn't come easily, and the No. 2-ranked Cats knew it wouldn't. No. 3 Florida (24-6, 12-4), which had won 19 straight at home, celebrated Senior Day for forward Matt Bonner and guards Justin Hamilton and Brett Nelson, and sought revenge for an embarrassing 70-55 loss at Kentucky earlier this season.

Kentucky's Cliff Hawkins drives to the basket while being defended by Florida's Anthony Roberson. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

But the Cats (26-3), winners of 20 straight, started this game as they have many others, taking an early led and fighting to snuff out the opponent. This time, the Gators didn't go as quietly as they did in Lexington, when UK rolled to a 29-point second-half lead.

Kentucky, shooting well from three-point range, bolted to a 43-31 lead and extended it to 60-46 with 11:38 left.

Bogans' three-pointer capped a 9-0 run that seemingly put the Cats in control. They still led by 10 with six minutes to play, but that's when Florida eased back into the game.

Nine straight points, seven by a hobbling Bonner, who played despite a right foot injury, pulled the Gators within 66-65 with 1:40 remaining and put the Cats in their most pressurized position since the SEC opener at Tennessee two months ago.

UK was struggling on offense against Florida's zone, which took away the inside game and led to seven turnovers in a nine-minute stretch. So the Cats, as usual, called on their vaunted and timely defense to carry them to perfection.

After a Fitch miss, the Gators had a chance to take the lead. Christian Drejer dribbled past Bogans to within a few feet of the basket and dropped off a dandy pass to center David Lee for an easy layup.

But after the pass, Drejer slammed into UK center Marquis Estill and was called for a charge, nullifying Lee's go-ahead basket.

A possession later, with the Gators trailing 67-65, Drejer tried to drop off a pass to a rolling Bonner, but Hayes tipped the ball away, and Fitch corralled it with 12.8 seconds left.

Fitch was fouled and made two free throws for a 69-65 lead.

Florida guard Anthony Roberson drove the length of the floor for a layup to make it 69-67, and the Gators fouled immediately on UK's in-bounds pass to Bogans. The UK senior, a 75.5 percent free-throw shooter, clanked two off the front of the rim with 5.8 seconds left, and Florida rebounded.

Roberson drove down the court against UK guard Cliff Hawkins to within about 21 feet and launched a three-point shot, but it missed badly, and UK had warded off the threat. Roberson made a similar shot to beat Georgia earlier this season.

"When he brought the ball upcourt, I knew he was going to take that shot," Hawkins said. "I was not going to let him go around me. He was going to have to take that shot over me with a hand in his face."

Until that final play, both coaches thought Drejer's charge into Estill was the play of the game.

Estill went into the Florida game tied with Hayes for the team lead in charges taken, and Florida coach Billy Donovan was less than enthralled with the call by official Mike Stuart.

"I don't even want to deal with that call," Donovan said. "I don't know how you make that call. I told Mike that he's got a lot of guts to make that call.

"I would like to have seen us play defense one time with the lead."

The only reason the Gators had a chance to take the lead was the gutsy play of Bonner, who Thursday was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and walked on crutches to alleviate the pressure on his right foot.

He scored 25 points, 15 in the second half, and teamed with Lee in the middle to take away UK's normally effective inside game.

"That was our plan," Bonner said. "They're a power team normally, and we wanted to make them beat us over the top shooting threes. They did that, and you have to give them credit, because they can beat you in more than one way. That's what happened here."

Not only did Bogans and Fitch connect from three-point range, but Antwain Barbour, who had seven on the season, made two, and Hayes and Hawkins made one apiece.

"They made their threes, and that was the difference in the game," Donovan said. "Barbour's jacking them up, and I'm like, 'This is unbelievable.' Hawkins made one in front of me. Hayes made one. But you've got to give them credit. That's the sign of a great team that somebody steps up when you need it."

Florida came into the game as the SEC's leader in three-pointers made, but the Cats made 9 of 17 from three-point range, compared with 3 of 13 for the Gators. Florida had its fewest threes of any game all season.

In two games against Florida, UK has made 16 three-pointers to eight for the Gators.

Perfection comes in many different forms, and the Cats found another one. It took Fitch scoring 18 points and Bogans 15 as part of a perimeter attack for UK to prevail.

"It feels good to be on top," Bogans said. "A lot of people doubted us; everybody was calling us Team Turmoil. To put together a run like this explains itself. It's special."

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Hayes	32	2	5	2	4	7	2	2	1	7
Estill	27	3	6	2	4	4	0	3	3	8
Daniels	27	3	10	0	1	3	2	1	3	6
Fitch	35	6	8	3	4	2	1	3	2	18
Bogans	31	6	12	1	4	6	2	2	4	15
Hawkins	22	2	6	0	0	3	3	3	0	5
Barbour	14	3	6	0	0	3	1	1	1	8
Camara	12	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	2
Totals	200	26	55	8	17	29	12	15	14	69

Team rebounds - 2.

Florida	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Bonner	35	11	14	2	4	7	0	3	0	25
Walsh	26	3	7	1	2	6	2	1	5	7
Lee	35	6	7	1	1	11	3	4	3	13
Nelson	17	1	4	2	2	0	2	2	1	4
Hamilton	27	2	5	0	0	2	2	3	0	4
Roberson	23	4	9	2	2	2	2	0	2	12
Drejer	27	0	3	0	1	2	9	4	3	0
Colas	10	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Totals	200	28	53	8	12	30	20	17	15	67

Team rebounds - 2.

Kentucky	43	26	-69
Florida	31	36	-67

3-pointers - UK 9-17 (Hayes 1-1, Daniels 0-2, Fitch 3-4, Bogans 2-5, Hawkins 1-1, Barbour 2-4), F 3-13 (Bonner 1-3, Walsh 0-3, Nelson 0-2, Roberson 2-5). Technicals - None. Officials - N/A. Attendance - 12,581.

SEC perfection

With its 69-67 win Saturday over Florida, Kentucky secured its second unbeaten SEC season since 1995-96 - when the Wildcats won the national title. A look at UK's SEC records during national championship years.

Title year	SEC record
1997-98	14-2
1995-96	16-0
1977-78	16-2
1957-58	12-2
1950-51	14-0
1948-49	13-0
1947-48	9-0