Kentucky's woes against ranked opponents continue

Kentucky is reeling.

The Wildcats lost for the third time in their last four games Saturday when Florida beat John Calipari and company soundly 88-66. It could have easily been their fourth straight loss if not for some heroics by Malik Monk in overtime earlier in the week against Georgia.

There's no shame in losing to a ranked team on the road, but Kentucky was thoroughly dominated by the Gators, and the result was never in doubt. Monk was held scoreless in the first half, and when's he's held in check, it's clear that Kentucky's defense isn't currently good enough to overcome his lack of production.

Florida shot better than 50 percent from the field, as Kentucky couldn't handle the speed of the Gators. Kasey Hill took advantage of a Wildcats defense that looked out of sync all night for a game-high 21 points.

Dropping contests against quality competition has been a recurring theme this season, and something Calipari needs to figure out if he hopes to guide the program through a lengthy tournament run. Kentucky is now 2-4 against teams that are currently ranked, and its only impressive win came against North Carolina.

When the Wildcats were tested by Kansas, Louisville, and now Florida this season, they've come up short. Kentucky has to play Florida one more time in the regular season, but beyond that, the program won't face anything that could be considered a true test before the SEC tournament.

If Calipari was trying to see what this 2016-17 squad was made of by measuring it against quality competition, he can't like what he sees.

"I told them I'm not cracking," Calipari said he told his team after the game. "... Sometimes you have to hit bottom."

The losses won't prevent the Wildcats from making the tournament, but as we creep closer to March, it's fair to question whether Kentucky's just going to be able to flip a switch and turn it on when the games matter most.