Malik Monk was too much for the 13th ranked Florida Gators (23-6, 13-3), as #11 Kentucky (24-5, 14-2) rallied for a 76-66 win on Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena in Lexington, snapping a nine-game winning streak for Florida.
Florida twice built eight point leads in the second half of this game, after being tied 28-28 at halftime, but each time Kentucky had an answer and Malik Monk was almost always in the middle of it. He scored 14 points during an 18-10 run that tied the game at 55-55 with just under 10 minutes to go. Monk would finish with 30 second half points and 33 on the game, the most a player has ever scored in a single half under Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Kentucky also got a brilliant game from Bam Adebayo, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, while grabbing 15 rebounds on the game.
The Gators were led by 24 points from KeVaughn Allen, as well as 13 points from Justin Leon. In spite of getting 11 rebounds from Devin Robinson, Florida was outrebounded by Kentucky 48-30. The Wildcasts also shot a scorching 64% from the field en route to the big conference win that puts them a step closer to clinching the SEC regular season title.
Florida wraps up their home schedule on Wednesday when they host Arkansas. Tipoff from Gainesville is set for 7 PM and can be heard with pregame beginning at 6:25 PM on 620 WDAE and 95.3 FM.