No. 12 Florida braces for red-hot Arkansas (Mar 01, 2017)

No. 12 Florida braces for red-hot Arkansas (Mar 01, 2017)

Published Mar. 1, 2017 1:19 a.m. ET

Florida rattled off nine straight victories prior to seeing first-place Kentucky end its streak.

The No. 12 Gators look to start a new run of wins against another hot SEC squad when they face Arkansas on Wednesday in Gainesville, Fla.

The Razorbacks (22-7, 11-5) rolled off five consecutive victories and three of the wins came on the road. The hot streak elevated Arkansas off the NCAA Tournament bubble and into a probable tourney team.

Coach Mike Anderson relishes the change in fortune and wasn't shy about pointing it out during Monday's media availability session.

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"It's funny because two weeks ago, everybody and some of you guys in here and across the country had us in the cemetery," Anderson said. "They had us dead and I remember making a statement that all sickness is not death. They actually had us buried but as I said all sickness is not death."

While the Razorbacks are certainly alive, they have struggled on the road against high-echelon teams. Arkansas hasn't defeated a top 15 team on the road since winning at No. 12 Alabama on Jan. 27, 2007.

That makes it a tough task to continue the winning streak against Florida (23-6, 13-3). The Gators are in second place in the SEC and defeated the Razorbacks six consecutive times.

The latest was an 81-72 victory on Dec. 29 when sophomore shooting guard KeVaughn Allen scored 21 points to propel Florida. Allen was a high school star in Arkansas before choosing the Gators.

Allen averaged 25 points over the past two games to raise his mark to a team-best 14.0 points. He will again be heavily counted on with second-leading scorer Canyon Barry (12.3) still bothered by an ankle injury.

The senior swingman is attempting to play through the injury but had three total points on 1-of-8 shooting over the past two games.

Florida coach Mike White indicated after Tuesday's practice that Barry is still hampered by the injury.

"I'm not sure he will be (100 percent) by game time," White told reporters. "These ankle sprains that swell up on you, it just takes a little bit of time to get the stiffness out and get your full range of motion back and get that pop, that explosion back that guys like him rely upon.

"Athletically he's just not the same right now, but he's working hard to get back."

Allen scored 24 points in Saturday's 76-66 loss to Kentucky but most of his teammates struggled. However, White isn't going to get caught up in his team's first loss since Jan. 21.

"It was fun while it lasted," White said of the winning streak. "We lost at Kentucky. It's OK. It happens. A lot of teams lose there. There are a lot of things we can learn from (the game), but right around the corner is Arkansas, who is playing terrific and is very difficult to defend as well."

The Razorbacks feature four players scoring in double digits -- senior guard Dusty Hannahs (14.7), junior guard Daryl Macon (13.7), junior guard Jaylen Barford (12.2) and senior post Moses Kingsley (11.8) -- while averaging 81.0 points per game. Kingsley stands out in the interior and averages a team-best 7.7 rebounds while his 78 blocked shots tie for ninth nationally.

Arkansas is 2-11 all-time at Florida so Anderson is well aware that continuing the winning streak will be an arduous task.

"Mike has them playing at a real high level," Anderson said of White. "So it's going to be a very not welcoming atmosphere but it's something our guys look forward to."

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