Florida basketball’s moribund NCAA Tournament hopes took yet another hit on Wednesday night against the Kentucky Wildcats, who came to Gainesville and took away a hard-fought win over the Gators on their home court, 82-74. Even without center Colin Castleton, the team was able to keep the game close enough to give the ‘Cats a scare but still came up short in the end.

Nonetheless, the loss sent the Orange and Blue tumbling in ESPN’s latest Basketball Power Index update with Florida falling from No. 44 prior to the game to No. 48 following. The Gators’ strength of schedule now ranks No. 17 overall in the nation while their strength of record is down at No. 78.

Next up for Florida are the Vanderbilt Commodores who host the Gators on Saturday, Feb. 26, inside Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. The two teams have already faced off once this year with Vandy stealing an upset win in Gainesville back on Feb. 11. The Commodores are currently ranked No. 90 in the BPI. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST and can be watched on ESPN2 or heard on the Gator Sports Network.

More Basketball!

Florida takes a mild drop in NET rankings after Kentucky loss

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Story originally appeared on Gators Wire