Look, Florida was the better team yesterday, and until right up until the end, it really wasn’t that close. The Gators came into a rocking Rupp Arena and broke Kentucky’s will in the first half. To the Cats’ credit, they did fight back and get back within 5. They should have had a possession there to cut it to a single-possession game, but a missed call gave Florida a chance to extend their lead. They did, and Kentucky could not get any closer.
With most of us being on the same page that Florida deserved
the win, we have to talk about the SEC officiating crew. Joe Lindsay, Valdimir Voyard Tadal, and Jeb Hartness had an impact on the game.
SEC refs really blow too many calls
Being a referee is hard; you are asked to run up and down the floor with guys half your age and make judgment calls in a second. Of course, you are going to miss a few; that is just part of it. As a coach, you just hope that by the end of the day, it balances out. Well, it didn’t yesterday.
I mean, that is about as clear as it gets. He wasn’t even wearing white shoes. But that was only the last in a series of pretty questionable calls.
Again, I want to make it clear, I don’t think the Cats would have won if every call had gone perfectly. But I do think we deserve to see a better called game than that. Maybe we will see it in Nashville, maybe we won’t.
If I were a betting man, I’d lean toward the latter.
