Image Credit: UAA
Having already captured the SEC regular-season championship and No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 SEC Tournament, all that was left for No. 5 Florida Gators basketball on Saturday was to complete a season sweep of their rivals. Florida did exactly that — even if it was harder fought than it should have been — prevailing 84-77 over the Kentucky Wildcats on the road at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Gators led by as many as 20 points in the contest, but the game nevertheless turned into a rockfight over the final few minutes as the Wildcats — aided by some head-scratching officiating and clock operation — clawed their way back into the contest. Florida was poor on both ends of the court, too, struggling to find the bottom of the basket in the latter stanza despite dominating for the first 30 minutes of the contest.
Let’s take a look at what went down in Saturday’s regular-season finale with some Fastbreak Takeaways.
It was over when … Kentucky missed a pair of 3-pointers as senior guard Xaivian Lee hit just 2 of 4 attempts from the free-throw line over the final 19 seconds.
Despite starting the second half 1 of 8 from the field, the Gators used a 7-0 run to take a game-high 20-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. The Wildcats would not be denied, though, staying aggressive with a 13-3 stretch to cut their deficit to eight points with 2:30 to play. Kentucky got as close as five with 30 seconds left (and again with 19 seconds left) as Florida missed multiple free throws and fouled on consecutive 3-point attempts.
Though UK received multiple beneficial whistles, UF lucked out once when junior G Urban Klavžar was not called for stepping out of bounds. Lee went 1 of 8 from the field, while junior forward Thomas Haugh and sophomore G Isaiah Brown each went 1 of 5. As a team, the Gators only made 10 of 33 shots over the final 20 minutes while missing eight free throws.
First half focus: Florida scored the game’s first 11 points — thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from the backcourt — as Kentucky missed seven straight shots; however, the Wildcats took advantage of a subsequent cold streak, using a 9-0 run to tighten the game. The Gators answered in kind with a 13-0 run, including seven points from Haugh, to jump ahead by 14 points. UF made nine straight shots at one point before increasing its advantage to 18 points after a Haugh triple. Dominating in both paint and fastbreak scoring, the visitors took a 17-point margin into the break.
Exceptional efforts: Haugh did all of his work in the first half, posting 17 of his team-high 20 points in the opening stanza. He hit 3 of 6 attempts from downtown overall, contributing nine rebounds, three steals and three assists. Sophomore G Boogie Fland was similarly effective as nearly half of his 16 points came from long range (2 of 3) to go along with a game-high six dimes; however, he committed three turnovers.
Junior F Alex Condon was efficient from the field, hitting 6 of 8 shots for 14 points with five rebounds, four assists and two blocks, but he committed a game-high four turnovers as his miscues continued to hurt Florida. Lee was the fifth double-digit scorer with 11 points despite going 4 of 11 from the floor; he posted five dimes and seven boards, though.
Junior center Rueben Chinyelu became the No. 3 single-season rebounder in program history, passing Al Horford in the record books with 364 boards on the campaign. He fell just shy of a record 19th double-double, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Odds & ends: Florida improved 44-111 all-time against Kentucky, 13-56 in Rupp Arena and 3-4 under head coach Todd Golden, who is now 2-2 in Lexington … UF and UK played a home-and-home series for the first time since 2024, given changes to SEC scheduling that no longer have these teams as annual rivals … the Gators improved to 22-1 when leading at halftime, 25-1 when leading with 5 minutes left, 24-4 when outrebounding an opponent, 20-1 when shooting 45% or better from th efield, 23-0 when outshooting an opponent, 5-0 when shooting 40% or better from 3-point range, 14-1 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range, 17-2 when attempting more free throws, 22-2 when 4+ players score in double figures and 16-0 when 5+ players score in double figures
What it means: On the same day that UConn got upset, Florida took care of business on the road against its biggest rival, putting itself in position for a No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The Gators picked up the 12th Quadrant 1 victory (third-most in the nation) and continued their dominant string of play to close out the regular season. There is no hotter team in the nation, particularly considering UF has found a way to improve its 3-point shooting drastically over the last month-plus.
Once the worst distance shooting team in the nation (bottom 10 overall) among power conference programs, Florida has put forward seven of its eight best efforts from downtown over the last 11 games. The Gators have improved their 3-point shooting every month since the season began, and they are now shooting over 30% for the campaign, the threshold required for a team to be a legitimate national championship contender. More to come
What’s next? Florida will enter the 2026 SEC Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. It will receive a double bye, skipping ahead to the quarterfinals, where it will play either the No. 8, No. 9 or No. 16 seed on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. The game will air live nationally on ESPN. The Gators will aim to win back-to-back SEC Tournament crowns for the first time since they captured three straight from 2005-07.
