Ever since the 3-point shot was introduced to the game of basketball, it has changed the way the game is played. The 3-point shot changes the game, and that certainly was the case in the Kentucky Wildcats’ 106-100 win over No. 6 Florida on Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena.

Florida entered Saturday at 13-0, making it one of only three undefeated teams in the country entering Saturday.

Led by Koby Brea’s seven three-pointers, the Wildcats shot 14/29 from 3-point range to overcome an early 11-point deficit in the first half. The Wildcats made three of their 14 3-point shots during a 16-0 run to erase the 26-15 deficit and never trailed the rest of the game.

Jaxson Robinson and Andrew Carr also each made two 3-pointers. Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler and Travis Perry each made a 3, while Kentucky had six players score in double figures in Saturday’s win.

Butler led the Wildcats with eight assists, and Kentucky has 25 assists on 37 made field goals.

This was easily Kentucky’s best 3-point shooting performance under Mark Pope, who constantly pressured – sometimes even begged – his team to make shots from deep, and boy did they ever in this one.

In percentage terms, this was Kentucky’s second-best game from deep so far this season, behind only the 11/21 game. (52.4%) against the Louisville Cardinals. However, Louisville has one of the worst perimeter defenses in college basketball. They currently rank 272nd in opponent 3-point shooting percentage (35.6%) and 52nd in KenPom efficiency.

Even after the Gators, ranked seventh by KenPom, allowed Kentucky to shoot 48.3%, they still rank 22nd nationally in 3-point defense (28.6%).

Considering how noticeably better Florida is than Louisville when it comes to 3-point defense, this was clearly Kentucky’s best shooting performance of the season.

What made things even more impressive was that Kentucky has shot a combined 14/50 from distance in their last two games.

This is also Pope’s third win over a top-10 team and first at Rupp Arena in his first season as head coach of the Wildcats.

Kentucky is now 11-2 (1-0 SEC) and will face the Georgia Bulldogs on the road in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday night. Tipoff occurs at 7:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

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