‘We’ve got to be the tough guys.’ Cats explain what it will take to upset Gators
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky must impose physicality early to disrupt Florida’s game plan.
- UK needs higher offensive efficiency from its starting backcourt vs UF.
- Turnover control and transition defense will determine upset viability.
Let’s stipulate this up front: Florida has a better men’s basketball team than Kentucky.
Todd Golden’s mighty Gators (25-6, 16-2 SEC) have proven that by sweeping two games from UK in the regular season, by winning their past 11 contests and earning the Southeastern Conference regular season championship by a robust three games.
Yet by withstanding a furious Missouri second-half rally and pulling out a 78-72 win over the Tigers in Thursday’s SEC Tournament second round at the Bridgestone Arena, Kentucky has not only earned a third chance to beat Florida in 2025-26.
When UK faces UF Friday in the SEC tourney quarterfinals, the Cats (21-12, 10-8 SEC regular season) essentially have a free shot at a season-defining upset in a game no one will expect them to win.
Kentucky earned that opportunity by flipping the script on Mizzou.
When coach Dennis Gates’ Tigers beat Kentucky 73-68 at Rupp Arena on Jan. 7, Missouri rallied from eight down in the final 4:35 of the contest with a game-closing 15-2 run.
On Thursday, Mizzou erased a 16-point UK advantage in the final 14:33, and took a one-point lead on a Mark Mitchell (32 points, seven rebounds) bucket with 2:34 left.
This time, however, “We didn’t fold in the last four minutes,” Kentucky star Otega Oweh said.
Once UK went down by one, Denzel Aberdeen cashed a pair of free throws, Oweh (21 points) scored on a driving layup, then Aberdeen (16 points) beat the shot clock with a driving bucket of his own as UK won a second game in the same SEC tourney for the first time since 2018.
Now comes Florida. It is interesting to note that, in the Gators’ current 11-game win streak, nine of the UF wins have been decided by double digits.
The only two games in the streak in which Florida won by single digits were both against UK.
On Valentine’s Day in Gainesville, Florida beat Kentucky 92-83.
That day, UK was done in by turnovers. The Cats lost the ball 14 times, and that led to a 25-12 Florida edge in points off of turnovers that was the difference in the game.
In last Saturday’s 2025-26 regular-season finale, UF beat UK 84-77 at Rupp Arena. This time, the culprit was Kentucky’s transition defense, as the Gators outscored the Cats 24-4 in fast-break points.
During last weekend’s meeting between UF and UK, the Gators opened the game with an 11-0 run. After Kentucky pulled within 20-19, Florida uncorked another 13-0 rampage from which Kentucky never fully recovered.
As the Cats outlined the things that have to change to give themselves a shot to take down Florida on Friday, getting off to a better start was at the top of the list.
“We have to be the tough guys,” Kentucky forward Mo Dioubate said. “This time, we have to be the ones to impose our will early.”
One thing Florida has done very well against UK in the first two meetings is make life difficult defensively for “The Three-Headed G.O.A.T” — Oweh’s nickname for the Kentucky starting backcourt.
In the first two games vs. the Gators, Oweh has shot a combined 12 of 35. Aberdeen, the first guard off the bench for last season’s Florida NCAA title team, has shot 12 of 34 vs. his old team.
After Collin Chandler burned Florida with 5-of-7 3-point shooting and 18 points in Gainesville, the Gators made driving him off the 3-point line a priority in Lexington.
As a result, Chandler went 0 of 3 on treys at Rupp Arena and finished with two points.
It is hard to imagine Kentucky pulling off the upset if “The Three-Headed G.O.A.T.” can’t achieve a far higher rate of offensive efficiency than has thus far been achieved vs. Florida.
Oweh said he plans to change the approach he has taken in the prior meetings when driving the ball against the towering Florida front line that runs 6-foot-9, 6-10, 6-11 with a 7-1 top reserve.
“It’s hard,” Oweh said of trying to score in the lane vs. UF. “We got to play off of two feet. There were a lot of times in (the game at Rupp) that I flew in there off of one foot.”
Chandler said the way Florida defended him last week has taught UK what it must do to get him open shots from behind the arc against that defensive approach.
“It was a good learning opportunity for me and our team in terms of being creative in ways to be able to stay involved in the game,” Chandler said.
The SEC Tournament quarterfinals between Kentucky and Florida will see the No. 9 seed Wildcats with the benefit of having already played and won two games in the tourney.
Conversely, the top-seeded Gators will be well-rested — but are also making their tourney debut after having earned a double-bye.
“We’ve got to sniff the gym a little bit. We’ve got the feel of the gym a little bit,” Chandler said. “Whether that is an advantage (vs. Florida) or not an advantage, I feel like we are ready to go, ready to play.”
