At tipoff, a sold-out O’Connell Center that was covered with orange in the lower bowl roared in anticipation of this primetime matchup.
About 12 seconds later, Xaivian Lee opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, bringing the 11,230 fans to their feet. Lee followed with his second 3-point shot about three minutes later, forcing Kentucky into a timeout with the Gators up eight.
At that point, it seemed like Florida was on its way to another dominant home win.
However, the Wildcats, who were trailing by 15 at one point, cut their deficit to five in the second half multiple times, including with 36.8 seconds to go.
Despite the Wildcats’ comeback efforts, No. 14 Florida (19-6,10-2 SEC) took down No. 25 Kentucky (17-8, 8-4 SEC) 92-83. The Gators grabbed their first home win over UK since 2018 and remain the sole team atop the SEC standings.
“Credit to Kentucky, I thought they did a good job fighting, cutting that lead,” said Florida head coach Todd Golden. “I don't think we played our best, but we played well enough.”
At the forefront of Florida’s effort was Lee, who finished the game with a team-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, marking his third-straight double-digit outing and third 20-plus-point effort of the season.
At the half, Lee led Florida with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. His third 3-pointer of the first half put the Gators up 30-17 with 9:37 before the half. In the second half, he recorded nine points, including two free throws with 31 seconds left to put the game on ice.
"He’s stacked some really good games over the last couple of weeks, and I thought he was fantastic today," Golden said. "Just got off to a great start knocking shots down."
Behind Lee was Urban Klavžar, who once again provided a spark off the bench for the Gators with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, marking his sixth double-digit scoring effort in his last seven games
He recorded five points on 2-of-4 shooting by the end of the first half, including a 3-pointer to give the Gators a 37-29 advantage with 3:46 before the break. But the second half was when he came to life, with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. He had five points in under 40 seconds to force the Wildcats to call a timeout down 14 points with 9:07 to go.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Klavžar said. “Especially when that first shot goes in. You just get a boost in confidence by just shooting it, which leads to more makes.”
Thomas Haugh also played a pivotal role in Florida's win, with 17 points and eight rebounds.
At the break, he logged 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Haugh’s dunk, which came from a Boogie Fland lob, put the Gators up 11 with 10:40 to go. His and-one under two minutes into the second half put an end to Kentucky’s 6-0 run out of the locker room.
While he did not reach double-digit points, Fland also had an impact on the game. In the first half, he logged five points, including a steal-and-slam that forced a Kentucky timeout, with the Gators up 32-17 with 9:23 before the break. His two steals at the break helped the Gators toward a 16-5 advantage in points off turnovers at the time.
He finished the contest with a team-high three takeaways, including a steal with 15.5 seconds left in the contest. He also added 8 points. Overall, UF finished plus-13 in points off takeaways
Fland’s defensive matchup was former Gator Denzel Aberdeen, who was 1 for his first 6 from the field but found his rhythm later in the first half to lead the Wildcats with 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting at the break.
The senior guard, who was showered with boos and chants from the Florida student section, finished the contest with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-21 shooting from the field. Additionally, Collin Chandler also found success offensively with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
However, Otega Oweh, who came into the contest leading Kentucky with 16.2 points per game, was limited to 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Big men Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu recorded double-doubles for Florida.
Chinyelu grabbed his 15th of the season with 10 points and 11 boards. Condon recorded 14 points, 10 of which came in the second half, and 11 rebounds.
“How the team is playing is all I am really worried about,” Condon said. “Give credit to all the bigs and these guys hitting some shots. We had good poise down the stretch, so it was great.”
Next, Florida will look to build off this ranked win as it hosts South Carolina (11-13, 2-9 SEC) Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
