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• Arkansas escapes Louisiana-Monroe, 28-27
• Tebow helps Florida snap losing streak to Miami, 26-3
• Alabama shaky against Tulane, 20-6

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LEXINGTON, Ky. - The skinny, mild-mannered kid is gone.

Oh, Perry Stevenson is still skinny. Two years of burger binges and weight lifting in an attempt to give the Kentucky forward some bulk haven't really done the trick. Stevenson's listed weight of 192 pounds is stretched tautly over his 6-foot-9 frame, and he still looks like a withering glare from coach Billy Gillispie would send him sprawling.

Yet there Stevenson was Sunday, scoring 18 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and swatting five blocked shots in Kentucky's 75-70 win over Florida.

This is the same shy, tentative kid who used to treat the basketball like a hot potato last season?

Not really. With the Wildcats up three in the final seconds against the Gators, Kentucky suddenly forgot how to beat the press. Two time-outs and two fortunate bounces after the ball caromed off a Florida player and out of bounds still hadn't brought the ball to midcourt.

Kentucky had just missed three of its last four free throws, and another anxious finish seemed at hand. Stevenson, however, had another idea, one he wouldn't stop sharing with his coach.

"He kept telling me, 'Coach, get me the ball and I'll make them,'" Gillispie said. "It's another step in Perry's development. He wanted that ball at the end because he was going to make the free throws."

Stevenson leapt high in the air to secure an inbounds pass, then held on while being fouled. Two swishes later the Wildcats beat the Gators for the first time in three years and perhaps signaled the end of Stevenson's journey from project to impact player.

"I guess it's just wanting to win, just wanting to win for yourself and not necessarily to please everyone," he said.

Stevenson's inspired play has helped the Wildcats overcome the loss of do-everything freshman forward Patrick Patterson, who is out for the year with a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Stevenson's long arms have made getting to the basket difficult for opponents - his 44 blocks lead the team and are seventh in the SEC - and his increased confidence in the lane has made him a threat to score when he gets the ball.

Gators ready for last shot: Florida has been to four consecutive Southeastern Conference tournament championship games and won the past three.

At the very least, the Gators probably need to reach another one to get back to the NCAA tournament.

Having lost seven of their past 10 games and struggling to find consistency on both ends of the court, the two-time defending national champions know they have to string together some wins to have any shot at earning a 10th consecutive NCAA berth.

"It's clear right now we've got to win some games," coach Billy Donovan said Monday. "But I think it was clear three weeks ago. I don't think anything has really changed around our team. I think the only thing that would change is people's opinion of what would need to be done. Do they have to win the tournament to get in?"

Maybe so, although some believe getting to the title game might be enough, especially for the reigning national champions.

The Gators open against Alabama on Thursday.

"I like the fact that they're going through all this," Donovan said. "It was like I told our guys last year, 'The microscope that our team was under, you're not running from it, you're not hiding from it.' There's part of me in a strange way that loves the fact that they have to hear that, see that, deal with that.

"It's like dealing with anything else. I can't put them in a cocoon and put cotton in their ears and not have them hear anything and not think about anything. They need to learn how to handle that."

© 2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.