Florida outlasts Kentucky, Denzel Aberdeen to maintain first place in SEC
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Florida is one of the hottest teams in the SEC, and the No. 14 Gators will remain in first place heading into next week. Todd Golden’s team extended its winning streak to 5 with a 92-83 win over No. 25 Kentucky.
Denzell Aberdeen’s return to Florida was a major storyline heading into the game. A key bench contributor on UF’s 2025 national championship team, Aberdeen opted to transfer to Kentucky during the offseason.
Aberdeen had a big day, but it wasn’t enough for the Wildcats. He led UK in scoring with 19 points and also had a team-high 4 assists.
Xaivian Lee was the game’s high scorer with 22 points. The Florida guard was 7-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3 point range. He made all 3 of his 3-point attempts in the first half, helping Florida take a 43-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Gators got quality contributions from Urban Klavzar. He scored 19 points, leading the way from 3-point territory with 5 triples.
Florida’s big trio of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu all scored in double figures. Condon and Chinyelu posted double-doubles, with Condon scoring 14 points with 11 rebounds and Chinyelu scoring 10 with 11 boards.
UF and UK were statistically close in many areas. Kentucky committed 3 more turnovers (14-11), and Florida effectively took advantage, scoring 25 points off turnovers to UK’s 11.
Florida improves to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in the SEC. Arkansas is currently second in the SEC and 1.5 games back. The Razorbacks host Auburn on Saturday night.
Kentucky drops to 17-8 overall and 8-4 in conference contests, 2 games behind Florida in the standings.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
