Kentucky 89, Florida 77: With 5:13 left in Gainesville on Tuesday, Kentucky and Florida were tied at 72, and the O’Connell Center was in full voice. Over the last five minutes, though, Kentucky proved to have too much size and too much athleticism for a solid Florida team, going on a 17-3 run to put the game away.

Kentucky remains one of two unbeaten teams nationally thanks to an overwhelming amount of top-of-the-line talent. They come in pairs. First, there are the two potential freshman All-American point guards in John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. Wall had an off shooting night, missing 6-of-7 threes, but he still scored 19 and dished out six assists. The less-heralded Bledsoe scored a game-high 25 on 10-of-13 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He also had three steals.

In the frontcourt, there’s junior Patrick Patterson and freshman DeMarcus Cousins. Neither had a superb night, but they still combined for 28 points, 12 rebounds and two of the game’s crucial plays. With the score tied at 72, Patterson hit a turnaround hook shot to give UK the lead. Fouled on the play, Patterson missed the free throw, and Cousins kept the rebound alive, deflecting it off of Dan Werner. It was the third time he had kept a play alive on that possession. After the subsequent in-bounds, Wall found Darnell Dodson for a wing 3-pointer, which gave Kentucky a five-point lead. UF would never get closer than four points thereafter.

To watch Kentucky play is to see a team that is built like a professional team, with size and strength at every position. It’s no coincidence that three-fifths of John Calipari’s starting lineup is likely to be in the NBA next season. Kentucky is a dominant offensive rebounding team thanks primarily to Patterson and Cousins. Those two plus Perry Stevenson make UK one of the best shot-blocking teams as well. The imposing size means that opponents tend to shy away from the rim, so very few get to the line.

The formula for beating the Cats’ defense is to take and make a lot of 3-pointers and try to crash the glass to punish UK’s efforts to block so many shots. Getting Cousins into foul trouble wouldn’t hurt either. On offense, Kentucky’s ability to hit the open jumper, even though that’s not its preferred method of scoring, makes it hard for opponents to pack in a quarter-court defense or zone against Kentucky’s penetrating ability and interior size and strength. It’s a tough code to crack.

Florida made an admirable attempt to crack it but failed because the Gators didn’t hit enough shots and didn’t force enough misses. The Gators tried to beat UK from deep, attempting 27 3-pointers, but only Erving Walker (4-for-8) and, improbably, Alex Tyus (2-for-4) made theirs. Everyone else was 2-for-14. Kentucky’s length made Florida’s field-goal attempts more difficult than the equivalent shots by the Cats, and that’s a problem opponents will face all season.

Despite playing Michigan State, Florida State, Syracuse and Richmond, the Gators’ non-conference schedule still projects as the third easiest in the SEC. That means that Florida is again in a position where 20 wins probably won’t be enough for an NCAA bid. In fact, if one includes the conference tournament, it will probably take 22 wins from the Gators to make the Dance. That means a 10-6 conference record plus another win in the SEC Tournament. With an offense and defense that look mediocre for different reasons, it’s difficult to see that happening.