Jalen Hudson came off the bench to score 17 points, and Chris Chiozza, Keith Stone and Kevarrius Hayers contributed clutch baskets down the stretch as Florida rallied to upset No. 18 Kentucky 66-64 on Saturday night.

The first-place Gators (14-5, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) saw their 45-37 second-half lead become a 56-53 deficit before they regrouped behind Chiozza's 3-pointer, Hayes' jumper and Stone's layup to go ahead 62-58 with 2:02 remaining. KeVaughn Allen added two free throws with 44 seconds left before Hudson made two more from the line, shots that offset 3-pointers by Kevin Knox and Wenyen Gabriel.

Stone's missed free throw gave Kentucky a chance to tie at the end, but Florida denied drives by Quade Green and PJ Washington before stealing the inbounds pass with 2.5 seconds left to win for eighth time in nine tries and take a two-game SEC lead on the Wildcats (14-5, 4-3).

Stone finished with 14 points, Chiozza scored 13 with eight assists and Allen had 11 as Florida won despite shooting 33 percent (22 of 66).

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Wenyen Gabriel had 10 points each for Kentucky, which lost its second in a row and third of five.

BIG PICTURE

Florida: The Gators shot just 20 percent from 3-point range, well below their SEC-leading 40 percent average coming in. But they got key perimeter shots from Hudson, Allen and Chiozza, and then closed the game by making their final three field goals.

Kentucky: The Wildcats shot 40 percent and won the boards 49-38 but went cold after taking their last lead. They also couldn't stop the Gators from making 3s in clutch moments. Hamidou Diallo and Nick Richards had eight points each.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kentucky figures to fall a few spots after letting one slip away. Florida might move closer to the Top 25.

UP NEXT

Florida visits South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Kentucky hosts Mississippi State on Tuesday night.