Kentucky Basketball: Today's match-up versus Florida serves as litmus test

Kentucky basketball is still searching for a major quality win and today’s battle versus Florida is the last big time match-up of their regular season.

After losing to Tennessee on the road and Kansas at Rupp Arena, and struggling to defeat the Georgia Bulldogs, the Kentucky Wildcats are facing a major litmus test on Saturday in Gainesville.

The Wildcats have wins over South Carolina, Arkansas, North Carolina and Michigan State so far this season, but they have also lost twice at home and don’t have another true test for the remainder of the regular season.

And that’s why today’s match-up with the Gators is so important.

If the No. 8 Wildcats want to make a push for a number one seed, they must win out and hope for some help. But more importantly, the Wildcats need to be tested against quality competition before March.

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The Gators have won their last three games (LSU, Oklahoma, and Missouri) by a combined 106 points and are currently in 3rd place in the SEC. They are one game behind both the Wildcats and South Carolina Gamecocks in the SEC standings, so this is Florida’s biggest game of the season.

The Wildcats have played better opponents (UNC, UCLA, and others), but the Gators are red hot and their crowd will be on fire on Saturday evening.

This is an opportunity for the Wildcats to go up against an opponent that plays a completely different style — the Gators are an excellent defensive squad that doesn’t want to get into a running match with the Wildcats — and gives their defense chance to rebound from their last three outings.

The good news for the Wildcats is that De’Aaron Fox, their star freshman point guard, is probable to play. He missed the team’s recent game against the Georgia Bulldogs with a stomach illness that swept through the locker room and affected numerous other players on the team.

With him the lineup, Kentucky will be able to get back to their transition attack that has been such a dangerous weapon for the team this entire season. They won’t have to rely as heavily on Malik Monk, who had to score 37 points to lead the ‘Cats to a win over Georgia and 47 points to lead them to a win over North Carolina in November.

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Just Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Florida (at home), Vanderbilt and Texas A&M remain on the Wildcats’ schedule following Saturday. You can see why this is a monumental game. Calipari says it all the time: the best way to prepare for March is to be tested.

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Kentucky Basketball: Today’s match-up versus Florida serves as litmus test

By Carmine Carcieri | Feb 4, 2017

Kentucky basketball is still searching for a major quality win and today’s battle versus Florida is the last big time match-up of their regular season.

More from Busting Brackets