With the possibility of three straight losses for the first time in the Calipari era looming over the Cats, UK wasted no time in its rout of the Florida Gators. The Cats built a 24-5 lead early and rode that out to win in Rupp Arena 80-61.

Nearing the 16-minute mark in the first half, Murray hit a three-point shot to give UK an 18-5 lead over the Gators. It was at that point that UK looked as if it had taken full control of the game.

The three just so happened to be Murray’s third to that point in the game and fifth overall in the half. The freshman had quite a half, going a perfect 5-for-5 from deep en route to 20 first half points.

His point total along with sophomore Tyler Ulis’ 15 points in the first half was enough to outscore the Gators in the first half, as they headed in the locker room with 32.

After giving up a 21-point lead to Tennessee in the loss this past Tuesday, Florida provided scare for the Cats. The Gators tried to make a dent where the Cats were weakest, on the offensive glass.

It was announced that senior Alex Poythress was day to day and would not play minutes leading up to tipoff, and the Gators took advantage of his absence with six offensive rebounds in the first half.

Those extra possessions translated to an 11-0 run for the Gators starting at the 6-minute mark. Florida was able to cut the once 24-point lead to only a 42-28 lead for the Cats.

“Well, the game got close because we broke down on defense,” head coach John Calipari said. “And they executed the crap out of some lobs, some back doors, some different play, offensive rebounded twice, and all of a sudden you look around and it’s 14.”

UK would extend that to a more comfortable lead of 50-32 going into the locker room.

Coming out of the half UK offense cooled off from it 62.1 percent shooting in the first half and that gave the Gators an opportunity to try to close the deficit.

Florida senior Dorian Finney-Smith carried its offense in the second half chipping in 14 points. He finished with 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting but his efforts paled in comparison to UK’s guard combination of Ulis and Murray.

It took Murray a full half and eight shots before he finally missed from deep. He finished with a career-high and tied UK’s freshman-high set by Terrence Jones with 35 points. He did so with eight threes on 80 percent shooting from deep.

“I really didn’t know anything about records or anything, I was just playing,” Murray said. “Coach wants me to shoot. I did that tonight and shot at a high percentage.”

Where Murray was shooting the light out, Ulis was spurning the Gator defense with his passing abilities. He finished with a career-high 11 assists and was able to keep the defense honest with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. 

“I thought Ulis really controlled the entire first half, offensively and defensively,” Florida head coach Mike White said. “I thought he put on a clinic, some of those things won’t show up in the box score offensively. He runs the show. He makes you defend on ball, off the ball.”

Other Notes:

• Freshman Isaac Humphries finished with four points, six rebounds, and two blocks in 15 minutes of play. This marks the first time he has played double-digit minutes for the first time since Dec. 3 at UCLA and the first time he has scored since Dec. 12 against Arizona State.
• This game for Murray makes him the first player in the Calipari era to have multiple 30-point games in a single season.
• Ulis joins John Wall as the only UK players under Calipari to have multiple 10 assist games.
• Junior Marcus Lee picked up his fifth foul in the closing minute of the game. That makes it seven times on that season that he has fouled out.