Gators Go Perfect on the Year Against the Wildcats

For the third time this season, the No. 4 Florida Gators went wire-to-wire without trailing the Kentucky Wildcats on the hardwood, this time beating the Wildcats, 71-63, in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday.

The three wins also marked the first time Florida beat Kentucky three times in a single season since 2014.

“In the three games that we played these guys, they haven't led for one minute,” head coach Todd Golden said after the win against Kentucky.

These two prestigious programs have faced each other for 120 minutes this season, and the Gators have led for 117 minutes and 48 seconds of the 120. Florida’s control in this series went against everything that former Gator Denzel Aberdeen said, though.

Roughly 11 months ago, Aberdeen committed to Kentucky after surprisingly entering the portal. It shocked many when he entered his name in the portal and even more when he chose to represent a different shade of blue.

However, what became even more mind-boggling were his comments a few months later comparing his previous school and the one he is at now.

“Definitely some similarities (between last year's Florida team and the Kentucky team this year). I think here is even more better, just knowing that the guys we have here and the coaching staff and then just this university itself, the people here are amazing," Aberdeen said in his first meeting with the media in Kentucky.

Aberdeen then doubled down on his beliefs in that same meeting with the media.

“We had a lot of great players at Florida, especially the tall bigs. Bigs that love to run there, and we have just as much as here; our bigs love to run, they play defense, and they play at a fast pace. So I think the things that we've got here are just as good, or even better,” Aberdeen stated.

That is where Aberdeen led people astray. In fact, the Florida frontcourt loved the three games against Kentucky.

Gators forward/center Alex Condon averaged 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game on 58.6 percent efficiency from the field. Forward Thomas Haugh posted 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game on 40 percent shooting and finished +34 combined in the three games. Rueben Chinyelu averaged nine points, 10 rebounds and one block per game.

Conversely, Kentucky center Malachi Moreno logged 7.7 points and 7.3 rebounds, center Brandon Garrison averaged 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds and forward Mouhamed Dioubate recorded 11 points and 4.7 rebounds per game across all three contests.

Another key factor in Florida’s control of the series is how they defended both Aberdeen and Otega Oweh. Despite both averaging 17 points per game in the three games, they struggled efficiency-wise. The former shot 37.8 percent from the field overall and 23.5 percent from three, while the latter was 32.1 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from deep. Oweh also committed 2.7 turnovers to just 1.3 assists per game.

As for team performance, the Gators outclassed their opponents in three, among many, impactful areas. The Gators averaged 34.7 points in the paint – 2.7 more than the Wildcats; 45.7 rebounds – 10.4 more than the Wildcats; and 16.7 second chance points – six more than the Wildcats.

Simply put, anyone can win in the offseason, but not everyone can win when the games actually get played.