Kentucky's Ashton Hagans to Miss Game vs. Florida, Asks to 'Step Away' From Team

Kentucky will play without sophomore point guard Ashton Hagans during its regular-season finale against Florida on Saturday, head coach John Calipari announced.

Calipari took to Twitter to say Hagans asked to temporarily "step away" from the team and did not travel with them to Gainesville.

"[Hagans] and I met a couple days ago and he asked to step away for a couple days for personal reasons," Calipari said. "I support his decision. We are going to need him at 100% for the postseason."

Hagans is averaging 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. He's dealt with some minor injuries this season and received criticism this week for the Wildcats' loss to Tennessee. On Tuesday night, Kentucky blew a 17-point lead and fell 81–73 to the Volunteers. During the game, Hagans was seen arguing with Calipari and junior forward Nick Richards multiple times.

Despite his recent struggles, Hagans's teammates have said that they continue to support him.

"We're going to do everything we can to help him," freshman forward Keion Brooks said Friday, per The Courier-Journal. "Everybody goes through their lulls, their bad stretches. We're not going to give up on him. We're going to continue to let him know that he's a great player, he's going to break through. Just continue to love him and support him."

Kentucky has gone 24–6 this season and sits in first place in the SEC with a 14–3 record in conference play.