Florida Holds On for 92-83 Win Over Rival Kentucky

Florida Gators guard Xaivian Lee had a game-high 22 points in the win over Kentucky.

Florida Gators guard Xaivian Lee had a game-high 22 points in the win over Kentucky. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Welcome back, Denzel Aberdeen. Meet, your replacement, Boogie Fland.

Helping Kentucky nearly erase a 16-point deficit but still trailing in the final seconds, Aberdeen drove on Fland, who transferred to the Florida Gators after Aberdeen's transfer to Kentucky.

Fland won.

The Arkansas transfer poked the ball loose, drew a foul on Aberdeen and sunk both free throws to seal the Gators' first home win over the Wildcats in eight seasons.

The 14th-ranked Gators had no shortage of heroes in its 92-83 nail-biting win over the 25th-ranked Wildcats, solidifying its standing as the SEC's top team and earning its first win over the Wildcats at home since 2018.

The win also marks Florida's fifth-straight and keeps the Gators in sole possession of first place in the SEC standings.

"This league’s really good. There’s a lot of really talented teams. What we’ve been able to do out of that game in or our last, I think is pretty incredible," head coach Todd Golden said. "We’re winning most every game by double digits. We’re doing it comfortably. We’re guarding at an elite level."

Urban Klavzar scored 19 points off the bench, 14 of which came in the second half, while shooting 5-for-11 from deep. Alex Condon joined him as the second-half spark, scoring 10 points with seven rebounds during the frame, and finishing with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Xaivian Lee (22 points) and Klavzar combined to hit nine of Florida's 10 3-pointers, marking the Gators' second-straight game hitting at least 10 shots beyond the arc as a team.

"I think the message before was also how good, you know, what our ceiling can be as shots start to fall. I think we're seeing that a little bit now, for sure," Lee said.

number 5. NUMBER 5

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— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 14, 2026

Star big Rueben Chinyelu joined Condon with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double, his 15th of the season.

Lee and Thomas Haugh (17 points, eight rebounds) paved the way in the first half.

Strong shooting came early for the Gators, which took a 22-8 lead with 12:56 left in the half. Lee scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the way, while Haugh added nine.

Florida made eight of its first 10 shots, including three of its first four 3-point attempts, and eventually led as many as 15 after another 3-pointer from Lee plus a steal and fast break dunk from Boogie Fland put Florida up 32-17 with 9:24 left.

Kentucky, however, came alive after the Gators' run.

After missing seven-straight shots as the Gators pushed the lead to 15, Mouhamed Dioubate and Aberdeen pushed the deficit back to single digits. The Wildcats went on a 15-5 run to make it a five-point game with 3:04 left. Aberdeen, battling boos and "traitor" chats for most of the day, had seven points with Dioubate hitting four free throws during the stretch.

"Credit to him," Condon said of Aberdeen, who finished with 19 points. "He played a solid game, was aggressive. I think our guys did a great job making him take tough twos, running him off the 3-point line."

Florida took a 43-34 lead into the locker room after buckets from Condon, Chinyelu and Klavzar in the final three minutes.

Kentucky, once again, cut it close, making it a two-point game with a 6-0 run to begin the half, but an and-one from Haugh and 3-pointer from Lee pushed the lead back to eight.

Tommy through traffic 😤

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— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 14, 2026

Trading scores for much of the early portion of the second half, Condon and Klavzar pushed the Gators' lead back to double-digits. Condon hit a shot before recording a block and rebound on the defensive end.

Klavzar hit a corner 3-pointer on the next possession before adding a layup with 9:11 left to put Florida up 72-58. Aided by a pair of offensive rebounds on the next possession, Condon hit two free throws a minute later to give Florida a 16-point lead, its largest to that point.

Kentucky, once again, made a push late, cutting the lead to single digits with 1:20 left after a pair of free throws from Otega Oweh. Collin Chandler cut the lead to five after a 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left.

Free throws were key for the Gators at the end with nine makes in the last 1:26, including four in the final 30 seconds from Lee and Fland.

"I thought we did a really good job relentlessly getting on the glass, especially the last 10 minutes of the game," Golden said. "And making sure we got second chance opportunities, making sure we got to the line, and our defense was great early, not great in the middle and pretty good late."

The Gators remain home for a matchup on Tuesday against South Carolina. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.