Position	Player	Notable Statistic	Year	Height	Weight
G	Kasey Hill	9.7 PPG to go along with team-high 4.9 APG and 1.8 SPG	Sr.	6-1	175
G	KeVaughn Allen	Leads Gators with 13.6 PPG on 45.7% shooting	So.	6-2	183
F	Devin Robinson	Averaging 11.2 PPG and 5.8 RPG this season	Jr.	6-8	200
F	Justin Leon	Shooting 41.3% from three this season	Sr.	6-8	196
C	Kevarrius Hayes	Averaging 6.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, team-best 1.6 BPG	So.	6-9	218

Notable contributors: G Canyon Barry (Second on team with 12.7 points per game on 42.8% shooting), G Chris Chiozza (averaging 6.5 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG), F Keith Stone (3.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG), C Schuyler Rimmer (1.4 PPG, 1.0 RPG) G Eric Hester (2.5 PPG)

Injury/illness report: G Canyon Barry (ankle, active), F Keith Stone (ear infection, active), C Gorjok Gak (sprained foot, out), C John Egbunu (torn ACL, out for season), F Dontay Bassett (stress fracture in foot, out for season)

Head coach: Mike White (44-20 in second season at UF, 145-60 in six seasons overall)

Streak: Won 9 (and 16 of past 18)

Last game: Won 81-66 at home against South Carolina on Tuesday

RPI: T-5th

SOS: 16th

KenPom.com team ranking: 4th

No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats (23-5, 13-2 SEC)

Position	Player	Notable statistic	Year	Height	Weight
G	De'Aaron Fox	Second on Kentucky in scoring (15.5 PPG) and first in assists (4.1 APG) and steals (1.5 SPG)	Fr.	6-3	187
G	Isaiah Briscoe	Averaging 13.5 PPG, 5.4 PPG	So.	6-3	210
G	Malik Monk	Leads Kentucky with 21.1 PPG on 47.2% shooting	Fr.	6-3	200
F	Wenyen Gabriel	Averaging 5.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG this season	Fr.	6-9	213
F	Bam Adebayo	Recording 13 PPG, team-best 7.4 RPG, with team-high 46 blocks on the year	Fr.	6-10	260

Notable contributors: F Derek Willis (7.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG), G Mychal Mulder (5.9 PPG), G Dominique Hawkins (3.7 PPG, 1.9 APG), F Isaac Humphries (3.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG)

Injury report: G De'Aaron Fox (bruised knee, game-time decision)

Head coach: John Calipari (240-52 in eighth season at Kentucky, 643-190 in 25 seasons overall)

Streak: Won 5

Last game: Won at Missouri 72-62 on Tuesday

RPI: 10th

SOS: 24th

KenPom.com team ranking: 7th

Florida basketball head coach Mike White (USA Today Sports Images)

Q&A WITH MIKE WHITE PREVIEWING FLORIDA-KENTUCKY

Q: What are your thoughts on Kentucky and how do you stop them?

White: "With these guys, when they have it going, first off, they're terrific defensively every year as we all know, and I think they're defending as well as they've been defending all year right now. But offensively, when Adebayo's got it going in the paint and Gabriel and Willis are hitting perimeter shots and Monk's as good of a scorer as their is in college basketball. Fox is at an all-time high, playing with a lot of confidence, getting to the foul line, converting at the foul line. Briscoe is one of the hardest guys in the country to keep out of the paint like Fox.

"They're just so difficult to defend. We can't say 'We're going to take this away.' I'm not even sure if you can go into a game and know you're going to take one thing away from them. We've got to be good at everything. We have to be solid. We understand that they're going to hit some difficult shots. They have the capability to do that. They're going to go on some runs, of course. They have really good players. They run good stuff. They're just really good. They're a really good basketball team. We have our hands full."

Q: How important will Hayes be against Kentucky?

White: “It’s huge. For him to be able to defend Adebayo at a high level and to be able to rebound with him and stay out of foul trouble, it’s going to take a special effort from Kevarrius. And Schuyler Rimmer had got to be ready to roll, and Keith Stone has got to be ready to roll and our guards have got to continue to get better with helping us on the interior defensively and on the glass, we’ve got to do it by committee, we can’t expect Kevarrius Hayes to do it by himself."

Q: What about KeVaughn Allen? What type of effort on the boards are you looking for from him, after his strong rebounding performance against South Carolina?

White: “I don’t know with him coming out with a really aggressive mentality offensively led to the extra pep in his step defensively or on the glass or vice versa. I would bet on the latter, that he got himself going offensively because of how hard he was playing on the defensive end. Nothing tricky, in terms of him rebounding better, he was just flying around, he was focused on it more.

"He was around the ball, he had a nose for the ball, he wasn’t floating and assuming someone else was going to get the rebound so he could run the lane. We’ve challenged him for a long time and he’s embraced it, he’s coming off his best rebounding game, and we’ve got to continue to have him rebound for us. When he gets defensive rebounds and he can lead the break, it’s pretty good offense for us most of the time.”

THREE KEYS TO VICTORY

1. Avoid foul trouble: Hill, Chiozza and Allen need to manage to stay in the game in order to be able to try to contain the likes of Monk, Fox and Briscoe, but Florida's frontcourt especially needs to be careful Saturday. Florida could end up in a tough spot if players like Hayes and Leon pick up early fouls.

2. Protect the rim in transition: As both teams' last meeting showed, Kentucky likes to push the tempo and get after it in transition. Florida will need to defend the paint well in transition against a Wildcats squad whose guards often take it to the hole. UF rejected UK plenty of times at the rim in the Feb. 4 meeting, but without Egbunu it may not be as easy of a task.

3. Get Allen and Barry going offensively: This is a game where the Gators are going to need Barry to be a proficient scorer off the bench, but it remains to be seen how effective he'll be playing with that ankle injury. However, Florida will need Allen to step up and continue being aggressive offensively. The Gators may need Allen down the stretch of the game to be the go-to guy on offense.

PREDICTION

Florida 74, Kentucky 72: This is a daring pick on our part, considering the Gators have won in Rupp Arena just once against John Calipari - and only three times since 2000. Kentucky doesn't lose very often at home - Calipari's home record with UK is 132-6 - but the Wildcats have dropped two home contests this year, although to two top-five teams in Kansas and UCLA.

Not having Egbunu for this game is unideal, but the last meeting showed that plenty of Florida's other contributors are capable of successfully defending an up-tempo Kentucky team at the rim in transition. Fox either being not 100% (or out) could also play a factor Saturday. Even though Florida has gotten off to sluggish starts at times on the road this season, there shouldn't be any lack of motivation squaring off against the Wildcats. Expect Saturday's contest to be a close one.

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