NASHVILLE, Tenn. – So, there’s that old adage in sports (in this case, college basketball) about how difficult it is to beat a team three times in a season. The reality is it’s not that hard when one team is just that much better than the other. 
 
Even on one of its worst days.
 
That was the case for top-seeded and fourth-ranked Florida in its 71-63 dental-visit victory over ninth-seeded Kentucky in Friday’s quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Gators’ offense, to be kind, was ghastly: 37.9% from the floor, 3-for-20 from the 2-point line (15%) and a whopping 18 turnovers. 
 
And yet, UF (26-6) never trailed in the game and built a lead that swelled to as many as 17 midway through the second half before having to navigate some angst in the final minutes before exiting with a 12^th consecutive win and berth in Saturday’s tournament semifinals against Vanderbilt (25-7), a 75-68 winner over rival Tennessee in the afternoon quarter.
 
But, yeah, make that three wins over Kentucky (21-13) this season – none of them particularly inspiring – and a second in six days. The Gators never trailed in any of those three games. 

“We hadn’t played in about a week and I thought we were a little rusty,” said UF coach Todd Golden, whose team’s last outing was an 84-77 triumph at UK last weekend and came to the Music City as the tournament’s top seed, with a double-bye into the quarters by winning the conference title. “It was kind of the same story each of the three times we played these guys this year. Got up big in the second half, had an opportunity to extend to a point where they couldn’t get back in the ballgame and we got sloppy with the ball. I thought our execution and the way we played physically for the last 13 minutes was not good enough.”
 
As poor as Florida was shooting the ball, however, the Gators defended the Wildcats at 35.6%, including just 5-for-23 from the arc (21.7%), and blasted them 50-29 on the glass, with an 18-8 edge on the offensive end.
 
“The way we defend and rebound it gives a chance to win a game even like this one,” UF backup guard Urban Klavzar said. 

Maybe so, but the Gators, especially this time of year, don’t want to test that theory again. 

Junior forward Alex Condon was a problem in the post, finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. The 6-foot-11 Australian went 7-for-12 from the floor and eight of 11 at the free-throw line to carry a team that shot an atrocious 7-for-24 with a dozen turnovers in the second half. Haugh had 13 points, but went 2-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-5 from deep. Guard Xaivian Lee had a solid 11 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals and hit the biggest shot of the game, which happened be his team’s lone 3-pointer in the second half. 
 
Take away Condon’s numbers and the Gators made just 15 of 44 field-goal attempts. 
 
But that still leaves the Florida defense and rebounding, which took its toll on an opponent playing its third tournament game in 50 hours. 
 
“We got beat up on the glass in a massive way,” UK coach Mark Pope said. 
 
The game got off to a similar start as the first two meetings, with the Gators rolling to a 20-10 lead not nine minutes in when the Wildcats responded with 10 straight points to tie the score and ignite the Big Blue faithful in the building. 
 
That’s when UF point guard Boogie Fland hit back-to-back jumpers to jump-start a 13-0 run that he finished with one of the team’s three 3-pointers on the day to surge ahead 33-20. 
 
The lead was nine at the break and 17 seven minutes into the second period, with Kentucky struggling to keep Condon from getting to his spots on the block. On the other end, the Florida defense was suffocating.
 
“Anytime we got them operating in the halfcourt against a set defense, it was challenging for them,” Golden said. “That’s where we needed complementary basketball. Take better care of the ball. They’re not going to be able to put us in those predicaments.”
 
Instead, the Gators played uncomplimentary basketball. 
 
They hit only three of 13 field goals the rest of the way and turned the ball over 10 times. 
 
“Just ridiculous,” Lee said of the giveaways that led to 18 UK points. 

UF was still up a dozen, 62-50, approaching the three-minute mark when Lee fouled Collin Chandler attempting a 3-pointer. Chandler hit all three free throws and 18 seconds later Fland was called for an offensive foul that led to two more free throws from Kentucky point guard and former Gator Denzel Aberdeen (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) that cut the lead to six.
 
Haugh made a jumper in the paint, but Aberdeen answered with a 3 to make it 66-61 with 1:18 to go. Again, the joint was jumping with Big Blue chants. At Florida’s end, the Gators didn’t have a lot going on with their possession. With the shot clock winding down, Lee set up his defender, UK guard Jasper Johnson, and swished a picturesque step-back 3-pointer with 50.5 seconds to go that canceled out Aberdeen’s make and pushed UF back in front by eight. 
 
“Shout-out to X,” Condon said. “I think that’s becoming his go-to move.” 
 
Yeah, but the Gators could have done without the drama that accompanied it. 
 

🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/CK9JgFjuCF

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 13, 2026

 
There was a time when such sloppiness against the once-storied Kentucky program would have spelled doom. Instead, the Gators beat UK for the fourth time in the previous five meetings. 
 
And, yes, for a third time this season. 
 
The last time Kentucky lost three times to a team in the same season? Way back in – wait for it — 2025 against Alabama. 
 
Yeah, that Crimson Tide team was a lot better, too. 
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.