No. 4 Florida knocked off Kentucky 71-63 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and when Kentucky clawed within five at 66-61 with the crowd buzzing, Xaivian Lee rose up from the top of the arc and buried a deep three-pointer with 50.5 seconds left — then promptly stole the ball from Denzel Aberdeen to slam the door shut on the Wildcats.
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It was the kind of play that has defined Florida’s 12-game winning streak, now tied for the ninth-longest in program history.
“Any shot for us is a great shot, we crash the rebounds,” Alex Condon said. “Shout-out to X. I think he did a good job of facilitating early, let the game come to him. Hitting the big shot down the stretch, he likes that go-to move.”
Lee finished with 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds, extending his streak to six straight games with five or more assists. Head coach Todd Golden wasn’t surprised by the shot selection.
“That’s a good shot for him. It’s a tough shot, but it’s one he’s very comfortable taking,” Golden said. “He has the ability to snatch that thing back and get separation from the defender. He stepped up and hit a dagger.”
Condon Passes Gator Legends
Alex Condon led all scorers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth career 20/10 game and fourth this season. More importantly, his scoring output pushed him past both Al Horford (1,123 points) and Joakim Noah (1,133 points) on Florida’s all-time career scoring list. Condon now sits at 1,134 points.
Thomas Haugh added 13 points and finished a combined +34 across all three meetings with Kentucky this season.
“We came into Florida since we were freshmen, that’s our play style, just a little scrappy,” Haugh said.
Florida Dominated the Glass
The Gators posted a staggering 50-29 rebounding advantage, including 18 offensive boards for a 46.2% offensive rebound rate. Rueben Chinyelu hauled in 10 rebounds to complement Condon’s work inside.
Haugh said the coaching staff had a plan going in.
“They played two games before this. That’s going to tire out their guys,” Haugh explained. “We knew coming in they were going to be a little slow at the boards. Credit to our coaches — they told us that at the beginning. That’s how we played the entire year, fight for boards.”
How the Game Unfolded
Florida jumped out to a 16-6 lead on a Condon turnaround jumper, but Kentucky battled back to tie it at 20. That’s when the Gators went on a 13-0 run — the team’s 10th run of 13 or more points this season — capped by a Boogie Fland three-pointer to take a 37-28 halftime lead. Fland has now hit a three in six straight games, shooting 10-for-22 (.455) from deep in that stretch.
It was Florida’s third wire-to-wire win against Kentucky this season.
The Gators led by 17 in the second half before going cold, missing 12 of 13 shots. Denzel Aberdeen led Kentucky with 17 points, reserve Mouhamed Dioubate scored 14, and Otega Oweh added 10 as the Wildcats made things interesting late.
Golden was candid about the second-half struggles.
“We were up 17 with 13 to go, had an opportunity to extend to a point where they couldn’t get back in the ballgame. We got sloppy with the ball,” Golden said. “The way we played physically for the last 13 minutes was not good enough. That’s something we can address.”
Turnovers a Concern Going Forward
Florida committed 12 turnovers in the second half, nearly gifting Kentucky a path back into the game. Haugh acknowledged the issue.
“The turnovers, we need to fix. We had that problem a little bit in the beginning of the year. We fixed it. We have to get back to playing who we are,” Haugh said. “We don’t turn the ball over like that. That’s pretty uncommon.”
Golden connected the sloppy possessions directly to defensive breakdowns.
“The times where we struggled today defensively were a product of our offense. When we were bad with the ball leading to turnovers, they were able to get out in transition or get us in odd-man advantage. Anytime we got them operating in the halfcourt against a set defense, it was challenging for them.”
A Historic Season Rolls On
Florida’s 26 wins are tied for 10th most in a single season in program history. The Gators are into the SEC Tournament semifinals for a third straight year, just the third such streak in team history. Since starting their SEC schedule 2-2, Florida is 33-4 (.892) against conference opponents including tournament play.
The Gators also finished 3-0 against Kentucky for just the second time in school history, matching the 2013-14 team. Since the SEC Tournament was reinstated in 1979, only four teams have swept Kentucky 3-0 in a season: the 2013-14 Gators, the 2024-25 Crimson Tide, the 1978-79 Volunteers, and now this Florida squad.
Florida also set a single-season program record in dunks, as six today brought the season total to 178, surpassing the previous record of 175 set in 2005-06.
What’s Next
Florida faces No. 22 Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Gators will look to clean up turnovers and find their shooting touch after going just 3-for-20 from three-point range. Golden isn’t worried.
“Out of our 17 misses, I would imagine 10 of those were open and uncontested. We’ve been shooting the ball really well. We just haven’t played in a week,” he said. “I think it will take us a little bit of time to get back in that rhythm and flow we had ending the regular season.”