Florida Crushes Kentucky, Wildcats Lose Noel

Photo Credit: Joshua C. Cruey/Landov

Kentucky looks like they may be pretenders rather than contenders this year, as No. 7 Florida dominated the Wildcats, beating them by the final score of 69-52.

The news got worse for Kentucky, as the leading shot-blocker in the nation, Nerlens Noel, got injured after hustling to block a layup, when he fell and landed in an odd position on his left leg. He was in agony after the play, where he began to scream from the pain. He could be out for the rest of the year, although confirmation on the extent of his injury has yet to be made.

"I'm physically sick right now for him," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "What I'm hoping is it's not the extreme. I'm hoping it's some sort of twist, but we don't know."

While the injury would be a blow to the Wildcats if it's for the remainder of the season, it wasn't the reason for the domination of the Gators over Kentucky, as they jumped to a 31-19 lead in the first half, as Florida hit several 3-pointers in a row. 

The play which led to the injury also resulted in the biggest lead for Florida for the night of 16 points, and also represented the most Kentucky has trailed a team all season as of that moment in the game.

In what may be an understatement, Calipari concluded, "Our young guys looked like deer in headlights tonight."

That's not only true of this game, but for a number of games throughout the challenging season for Kentucky men's basketball.