It was a fitting time for Kasey Hill to have the best game of his collegiate career.
Hill was a McDonald’s all-american coming out of high school, a top ten prospect that was expected to partner with AAU teammate Chris Walker to lead the Gators into national title contention before heading on to the NBA in a year or two.
And part of that statement was true. As a freshman, Hill backed up all-american Scottie Wilbekin as the Gators went 18-0 in the SEC, won the SEC tournament and went to the Final Four. Hill, however, never lived up to that potential, as he’s been a good-not-great point guard for a Florida program that’s been in transition with new head coach Mike White.
On Saturday, however, Hill scored 21 points and added six assists and five boards as the Gators landed the biggest win of the White era, beating No. 8 Kentucky in the O-Dome, 88-66. Hill totally outplayed De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, the latest superstar back court that John Calipari has amassed in Lexington. Fox, in particular, is a guy built in the mold of Hill. Lightening quick, sprinter’s speed in transition, elite defender that struggles to shoot.
Fox is what we thought Hill would be.
And Hill got the best of him on Saturday.
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THEY WERE GOOD, TOO
- Jawun Evans, Oklahoma State: Evans led the Pokes to a pair of road wins this week, first going for 24 points in a win in Oklahoma and then following that up with 18 points and five assists when Oklahoma State went into Morgantown and beat No. 7 West Virginia. Those two wins put the Cowboys into the NCAA tournament as of today.
- Dillon Brooks, Oregon: Brooks had 18 points in Oregon’s blow-out win over Arizona on Saturday, but more important were the 27 points he had against Arizona State on Thursday. He scored the final 12 points of the game in a one-point win against a team at the bottom of the Pac-12.
- Andrew White III, Syracuse: White had 28 points in a comeback win at N.C. State and then went for a team-high 23 points in the comeback win over Virginia. He’s averaging 25.5 points in his last four games, which just so happens to be a four-game winning streak where the Orange have worked their way back into bubble contention.
- Caleb Swanigan, Purdue: The Boilermakers knocked off two teams in front of them in the Big Ten standings this week. Swanigan had 24 points and 16 boards in a 21-point win over Northwestern and followed that up with 26 points and 10 boards in a win at Maryland.
- Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga: Gonzaga’s streak of 267 straight minutes holding onto a lead came to an end on Saturday, but it didn’t on Wednesday, when Williams-Goss went for 33 points as the Zags smacked around BYU in the Marriott Center.