Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards good to go vs. Florida

Despite his recent struggles, John Calipari insists that Ashton Hagans is the best point guard in the country and he wants nobody else leading his team. Due to his importance to this team, Big Blue Nation collectively gasped Tuesday night as Hagans exited Kentucky’s win against LSU.

Hagans took a knee directly to the thigh that caused him to go out of Tuesday’s game and not return. It is reported that the contusion has led to a full thigh bruise that probably feels just as bad as it looks.

As it turns out, Hagans did not start today but checked in just five minutes into the game. He went through pregame warmups and shootaround, so it wasn’t much of a surprise to see him actually play.

Johnny Juzang started in place of Hagans.

In addition, junior center Nick Richards is good to go today. There wasn’t much doubt Richards was playing today, though he did suffer what initially looked like a scary ankle injury late in the Cats’ win over LSU. He too went through pregame warmups and shootaround.

Richards even spoke during Friday’s media availability, which was a sign he’d play today since players who aren’t playing rarely speak at those.

The Gators have quietly worked their way into a tie for second place in the SEC. So this game carries serious implications for the SEC Tournament and eventual NCAA Tournament seeding for both teams, so this is going to be a major battle, but at least Richards and Hagans are playing.