LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 13
points and 13 rebounds and top-ranked Kentucky easily passed its
toughest Southeastern Conference test to date with a 78-58 victory
over No. 8 Florida on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (24-1, 10-0) have won 49 straight at home and
matched their best start in league play since 2005 thanks to three
freshmen starters who have jelled into a formidable defense to go
along with their high-powered offense

Doron Lamb scored 18 points and freshman Anthony Davis added 16
for Kentucky, which won its 16th straight overall and ended
Florida's run of seven consecutive wins.

Kenny Boynton led the Gators (19-5, 7-2) with 18 points, but the
team with the nation's most 3-pointers this season went 6 of 27
from behind the arc and shot 34.9 percent overall from the field.

One of the last remaining questions for a team that continues to
believe it can play for a national championship in just under two
months had been the quality of opponents the Wildcats had faced
after not meeting a ranked team in over a month.

Kentucky answered it emphatically.

Freshman point guard Marquis Teague finished with 12 points and
10 assists as the Wildcats attacked on both ends.

Florida scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut
it to 38-30, but Kentucky answered with an 11-0 run sparked when
Teague and Darius Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers.

Florida freshman Bradley Beal then drove to the hoop only to
have Davis reject his shot and Davis swatted another from Patric
Young on the possession for good measure.

Miller added another jumper and Kidd-Gilchrist spun, hit a
basket and was fouled. He completed the three-point play that made
it 49-30 as Florida missed eight straight shots before snapping the
skid.

The lead reached 20 points when Lamb buried a 3 from the left
corner with 11:27 left and by as many as 21 late.

Beal scored 14 points and Young added 12 for the Gators.

Florida insisted before the game all the pressure was on the
Wildcats, but this group that starts three freshmen and two
sophomores doesn't appear to get rattled easily. Their only blemish
is a one-point loss in December at Indiana.

Fans received a panoramic black-and-white poster of Davis
stretching his arms out over a span of more than eight basketballs.
When he puts his arms up, he's been almost unstoppable in leading
the nation's top-ranked defense by field goal percentage.

Davis blocked four shots, leading the country with 120 and
continuing to climb the SEC's season list after already surpassing
Shaquille O'Neal's freshman conference record set 22 years ago.

Kentucky's lone problem was a slow start. The Wildcats fell
behind 6-0 and missed their first seven shots before scoring nine
straight points.

The game featured frenetic up-and-down play early. In one
sequence, Mike Rosario went behind his back to find Young for a
dunk, but Kidd-Gilchrist answered when he floated an alley-oop pass
to Davis for a slam over Erik Murphy.

It was an electric -- and sometimes bizarre -- atmosphere among
the 24,389 fans at Rupp Arena. Former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl
sat courtside signing a few autographs, and at one point during
free throws by Beal in the first half a fan in the student section
tried to distract him by wearing nothing but a blue Speedo.

It didn't work.

Beal made the free throws, but Florida went more than 6 minutes
without a field goal. Teague's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their
first double-digit lead with 1:38 left in the first half and Lamb
hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to put them up 38-26.

Florida would close the gap to eight points to start the second
half, but never got back within striking distance.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)