The No. 7 Florida Gators had no problem getting past the No. 25 Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday night, cruising to a 69-52 victory at home.
No. 7 Florida vs. No. 25 Kentucky final score: Gators pull away as Wildcats lose Noel in 69-52 loss
The Kentucky Wildcats were blown out Tuesday night by the Florida Gators, but an injury to their star forward might be even more concerning.
USA TODAY Sports
For more on this game, head over to ALLIGATOR ARMY and A SEA OF BLUE.
With the win, the Gators are now 10-1 in the SEC, while the Wildcats fall to 8-3. To make matters worse for Kentucky, it also lost its freshman forward with about eight minutes to play in the game when Nerlens Noel appeared to injure his left knee on a basket support. Later reports say he left the arena in a wheel chair. Noel was on the ground for several minutes before being helped off the court. He did not return to the game and his status is currently unknown.
At the time of the injury, the Wildcats were in the midst of a mini-run to climb back to within 12 points, but once he exited the game, Florida began scoring inside at will and stretched its lead to as much as 18.
Typical of their balanced team, the Gators had five players in double figures, led by 14 from Scottie Wilbekin. Mike Rosario, Patric Young and Casey Prather each had 12 points while Eric Murphy chipped in 10.
Julius Mays and Willie Cauley-Stein both had 10 points to lead the Wildcats, but Kentucky committed 17 turnovers in the loss.
From here, Florida travels to Auburn to face the Tigers on Saturday. Kentucky will play Tennessee on Saturday, but for now is just hoping its star forward will not miss an extended period of time.
See More:
