Kentucky lost to Florida but will have a chance to seek revenge in Rupp Arena

Kentucky will be looking for revenge in Rupp Arena vs. Florida to finish the season.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reacts during the second half of a NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, February 14, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats made the trip down to the Swamp to take on the defending National Champion Florida Gators and didn’t get the win. The spread in this game was 13.5 in favor of the Gators, so Kentucky did cover, losing this game with the final score being 92-83.

Personally, I didn’t feel that the Wildcats were going to take down the red-hot Gators in Gainesville, but the goal was to leave this game feeling that the Wildcats would have a real shot to beat Florida to finish the regular season in Rupp Arena on March 7th.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope reacts during the first half of a NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, February 14, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Many things hurt the Wildcats, but one of the big differences in this game was the points off turnovers. The Gators turned Kentucky’s 14 turnovers into 25 points while the Wildcats only scored 12 points off turnovers.

One thing the Wildcats did an excellent job of in this game was keeping the second-chance points close. Florida won this battle 13-10, but many fans expected Kentucky to get buried in this category. The Wildcats did lose by a wide margin overall on the boards, with Florida pulling down 45 while Pope’s Wildcats only pulled down 37.

The real frustrating part about this game is the fact that the two players who are the most capable shooters for the Gators killed the Wildcats from deep. Heading into the game, fans knew the two best shooters on this Florida team were Xaivian Lee and Urban Klavzar, and they combined to make nine of the Gators' ten threes on Saturday. If Kentucky does a better job defensively with these two players, they would have won this game.

Feb 14, 2026; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu (9) and Kentucky Wildcats guard Denzel Aberdeen (1) embrace after a game at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

We knew if the Gators' guards outplayed Kentucky’s guards, Pope’s team had no chance to get the win, and that was the case in this ball game. The Wildcats made a ton of defensive mistakes in this game and still had a shot late, so fans should have confidence that Kentucky can beat the Gators in Rupp Arena.

That game on March 7th will be massive for the Wildcats when it comes to seeding in Nashville and the NCAA Tournament, so Rupp Arena will be ready to be loud and proud in this ball game. The Wildcats have a very tough stretch of six games coming up to finish the season, so Pope’s team needs to finish strong. The Wildcats have an important matchup with Georgia coming up at home on Tuesday.