Kentucky unable to upset Florida, falling 71-63 in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky's run in the SEC Tournament will end at the hands of the 1-seed Florida Gators.

Mar 13, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope yells to his team against the Florida Gators during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Kentucky Wildcats were back in action on Friday as they took on the Florida Gators in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament after taking down LSU and Missouri in the first two rounds, a game that would be a massive win if they could pull it off for many reasons.

After dropping the first two games against Florida where the Wildcats made unsuccessful late comebacks after being down by big margins, it was more of the same on Friday as they fell 71-63. In the first half, Kentucky started down early, but used a 10-0 run to tie things at 20 before Florida jumped right back into control with a 13-2 run. From then on the half, the Wildcats were down and unable to really cut into the lead. Kentucky was getting beat in essentially every area, but most-notably on the glass. Florida's length seemed to really bother the Wildcats, even holding them to 2-11 shooting from deep. The only makes coming from Mo Dioubate, who helped them tie things up at 20 early. Florida then took a nine-point lead into halftime.

As for the second half, Kentucky really needed a run and especially were needing to get their three-point shooting going. They struggled with Florida's length mightily in the first half on the glass, at the rim and in transition. That was more of the same in the second half, as Florida started off on an 8-2 run to go up double-digits, just continuing to destroy Kentucky on the glass, leading to easier scoring opportunities for them and they never really gave up their lead, despite Kentucky cutting it to five late to make things interesting off of a Florida scoring drought, as a Florida three went on to seal it with one minute left. The Wildcats overall were just really bothered by Florida's bigs at the rim and all of the length contesting shots from deep. Florida, like in the first half, had plenty of extra chances thanks to offensive rebounds and creating turnovers, which they really capitalized off of.

There's not much you can do successfully against Florida's length at a consistent rate if you're not capitalizing by getting out quick in transition or knocking down your threes. Florida finished with 30 points in the paint, 21 second-chance points by winning rebounding 50-29, allowing just eight offensive rebounds for the Wildcats. There's just not much a team can do when playing right into what Florida does well. It seemed like Kentucky continued to settle for contested shots against Florida's length, which clearly was not a recipe for success, especially if threes aren't falling either, which is known to be a key for success against the Gators. Kentucky finished just 5-23 from deep as well.

Kentucky went into this one as a big underdog and Florida showed exactly why they are not only the best team in the SEC, but ranked fifth in the country. Up next, the Wildcats will await their NCAA Tournament draw on Sunday.