There are no good losses in UK hoops. But loss at Florida leaves reason for hope
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Florida’s 92-83 win gives Gators a two-game SEC lead, likely decisive.
- Kentucky’s early turnovers fueled Florida’s decisive 16-0 run.
- Despite the loss, UK’s late rally to within four offers reason for hope.
Let’s stipulate some things.
There are NO moral victories in Kentucky basketball.
As of now, Florida is the best basketball team in the Southeastern Conference.
The No. 14 Gators’ 92-83 win over No. 25 Kentucky on Saturday before a raucous crowd of 11,230 at the O’Connell Center gives Florida (19-6, 10-2 SEC) a two-game lead over UK (17-8, 8-4 SEC) that will likely prove insurmountable in the battle for the league regular-season crown.
For Kentucky, a school that has long considered SEC championships its birthright, the Southeastern Conference championship drought seems headed for a sixth straight year.
All of those realities will be hard to stomach for UK backers.
Yet with all that said, I left Saturday’s win for Todd Golden’s Gators over Mark Pope’s Wildcats somewhat encouraged for Kentucky.
Let me explain why:
With three of its top six players back from the 2025 NCAA championship team, Florida is really good, a legitimate contender to go back-to-back.
The Gators entered Saturday’s game off successive victories of 47 points (at South Carolina), 23 (over a then-ranked Alabama), 19 (at Texas A&M) and 20 (at Georgia).
On a day when Kentucky did not play particularly well — the Wildcats were down as many as 15 in the first half and behind by 13 with 5:17 left in the game — it was within four points, trailing 87-83, with 36.8 seconds left in the game.
“I’m proud of my guys, always,” Pope said. “Our guys are fighters.”
Said Florida’s Golden: “I don’t think we played our best, but we played well enough.”
Kentucky did not play nearly well enough to beat a team like Florida on its home court.
The Wildcats turned the ball over nine times during their first 20 offensive possessions. That allowed Florida to sprint to a 16-0 edge in points off of miscues, from which UK never fully recovered.
Kentucky’s two best players, senior guards Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen, combined to shoot 12 of 35. Their total of 32 points between them (19 of Aberdeen and 13 for Oweh) was a triumph of inefficiency.
“A big part of our scout was make it tough on Otega and Zell,” said Golden. “... I thought we did a really good job of defending those guys.”
In his return to Gainesville, Aberdeen, the top backcourt reserve on UF’s national title team a season ago, heard it from the “Rowdy Reptiles,” as the Florida student section is known.
Chants of “Gator traitor” and “Sellout” were directed at the UK lead guard.
Asked if he was surprised that a player who helped Florida win the national championship got such rude treatment in his return, UK’s Pope said, simply, “No.”
After Kentucky fought the powerful Florida front line — the 6-foot-9 Thomas Haugh, 6-11 Alex Condon and 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu — to a 20-20 standoff in the rebounding battle in the first half, the Gators won the battle of the boards 25-17 in half two.
Multiple times down the stretch, the Kentucky defense forced a missed Florida shot only to see the Gators claim the offensive rebounds.
Florida’s ample frontcourt length, supplemented by 7-2 Micah Handlogten in a reserve role, seemed to fluster Kentucky shooters near the rim.
“We were not good at the rim tonight,” Pope said. “We were disappointing at the core of the rim, and that’s what Florida does. So it’s a credit to them.”
Because Florida is so good up front, the Gators are exceedingly difficult to beat when they make outside shots. On Saturday, UF point guard Xavian Lee hit 4 of 7 treys en route to a game-high 22 points and Urban Klavzar, a Slovenian backup guard, came off the bench to rifle in 5 of 11 3-pointers and score 19 points.
“When we get (almost) 10 3’s, I don’t think anyone in the country can play with us,” said Condon, Florida’s junior forward.
Kentucky got solid showings from sophomore guard Collin Chandler (18 points, 5 of 7 3-pointers) and foul-plagued freshman center Malachi Moreno (11 points, 11 rebounds in only 21 minutes).
UK also got something of a back-handed compliment from Golden.
“They’re playing some good ball,” the Florida coach said of Kentucky. “They’re talented, obviously, $22 million roster (UK’s reported “payroll” for 2025-26). They’re physical, they’re big, and you know, I expect them to do well the rest of the year.”
The Cats will get another chance at the Gators in the regular-season finale March 7 at Rupp Arena.
Florida is a team with a legitimate chance to win a second-straight NCAA title.On Saturday, the Gators played “well enough,” and Kentucky did not play well.
The fact that the Wildcats were nevertheless hanging around in the final minute against the defending national champions in Gainesville supplies some encouragement that the Cats can yet make something good out of what has been, to date, a wildly up-and-down season.
