LIVE BLOG: Kentucky vs. Florida, SEC Tournament Quarterfinals
Kentucky took care of business in the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament. Can the Cats get some more revenge to make it to the semifinals? KSR’s LIVE BLOG will bring you all the sights and sounds from Bridgestone Arena as No. 9 seed Kentucky takes on the No. 1 seed Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals (1 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The Gators are on an 11-game winning streak, winning nine of those games by double digits. The only two in single digits? The games vs. Kentucky. All the pressure is on Florida today, the Gators battling UConn for the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Will the third time be the charm for Kentucky, or will fatigue catch up with the Cats? Refresh the feed below for updates from Bridgestone Arena and KSR’s takes on the game. You can also join the conversation on the KSBoard Game Thread.
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FINAL: Florida 71, Kentucky 63
03/13/2026 02:33:11 PMOnce again, Kentucky fought back to keep it interesting vs. Florida at the end, but once again, it wasn’t enough. The Gators beat the Cats for a third time to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt. Kentucky will head home to see what seed they draw on Selection Sunday.
40.1 2H: Florida 70, Kentucky 61
03/13/2026 02:30:23 PMDenzel Aberdeen’s three cut the lead to five and had us dreaming, but Xaivian Lee responded with a stepback three of his own to push it back to eight. He just made one of two free throws after a foul on Aberdeen to make it nine with 40 seconds to go.
1:38 2H: Florida 66, Kentucky 58
03/13/2026 02:26:02 PMThe lead is back to eight after a layup by Denzel Aberdeen and a turnaround jumper by Thomas Haugh. Officials are now reviewing the play to see if Jasper Johnson got hit in the face. It sure looked like it from here.
Collin Chandler fouls out
03/13/2026 02:23:32 PMThe good: Florida’s lead is down to six.
The bad: It may not be for long. Collin Chandler was called for his fifth foul, sending Thomas Haugh to the line for two shots. Bridgestone Arena is on its feet.
2:35 2H: Florida 62, Kentucky 56
The lead is down to 8!
03/13/2026 02:21:09 PMChandler hit all three free throws to cut Florida’s lead to eight. The Cats now have the ball after an offensive foul on Boogie Fland.
Do you believe?
3:13 2H: Florida 62, Kentucky 51
03/13/2026 02:20:19 PMFlorida’s 8-minute field goal drought is over, Chinyelu hitting a hook shot to put the Gators up 14. Denzel Aberdeen responded with a three-pointer to bring the lead back to 11. Collin Chandler can cut it to single digits from the free-throw line after this timeout. Xaivian Lee fouled him on a three-point attempt.
Otega Oweh just got a technical
03/13/2026 02:09:24 PMThis game can’t go 20 seconds without another foul being called. The latest was a technical on Otega Oweh, Kentucky’s 13th this half, 20th overall. Florida has been called for 14. Mark Pope gave Doug Shows and his crew an earful before calling a timeout. The entire arena is booing the officials for making this game unwatchable.
5:37 2H: Florida 58, Kentucky 46
10-point game!
03/13/2026 02:04:53 PMWe have a ten-point game, folks! Trent Noah got a steal and threw it ahead to Otega Oweh for the breakaway dunk. It’s Noah’s first appearance in Nashville this week. Florida timeout. The Gators haven’t scored in over three and a half minutes.
6:14 2H: Florida 56, Kentucky 46
7:59 2H: Florida 56, Kentucky 43
03/13/2026 01:55:03 PMIt’s been almost two minutes since either team scored. This is exhausting.
Someone other than Mo Dioubate made a three!
03/13/2026 01:51:04 PMIt took almost 30 minutes, but a Kentucky player other than Mo Dioubate made a three! Collin Chandler connected on his first three of the day — and even it required a very lucky bounce. On the other end, Chandler flipped over Alex Condon and picked up his fourth foul. He’s still on the floor.
9:36 2H: Florida 56, Kentucky 43
Mo Dioubate picks up his 4th foul
03/13/2026 01:46:47 PMWell, that’s no good. Mo Dioubate just picked up his fourth foul after battling Rueben Chinyelu in the post. Otega Oweh also just picked up a foul, just his second.
Cats trail by 14.
11:13 2H: Florida 53, Kentucky 38
12:23 2H: Florida 49, Kentucky 36
03/13/2026 01:35:51 PMIt’s hard to say things are better when Kentucky trails by 13 points, but the Cats did just make back-to-back dunks, Malachi Moreno rebounding Otega Oweh’s miss and dunking it home, and Kam Williams getting a steal to dish ahead to Denzel Aberdeen for another dunk.
Need a lot more of that and a lot fewer Florida rebounds.
Collin Chandler picks up his 3rd foul
03/13/2026 01:32:55 PMCollin Chandler is playing his butt off, chasing down Florida’s guards in hopes of getting a steal. However, he’s headed to the bench for a bit, picking up his third foul.
Kentucky just can’t get any shots to fall, now 2-9 from the field. The Gators have outrebounded the Cats 10-2 so far this half.
13:26 2H: Florida 47, Kentucky 32
Rough start to the second half
03/13/2026 01:26:22 PMIt’s been a rough start to the second half for Kentucky, which is just 2-8 from the field so far. Florida is faring slightly better, 3-6, all three makes coming from Alex Condon. He’s up to 19 points. The Cats just don’t have an answer for him. The Gators are up by 13 at the first media timeout.
15:17 2H: Florida 45, Kentucky 32
Tayshaun Prince is in the building
03/13/2026 01:20:52 PMKentucky needs to hit some threes in the second half. Do we think we can get Tayshaun Prince a jersey and sneak him onto the court?
HALFTIME: Florida 37, Kentucky 28
03/13/2026 01:01:40 PMKentucky is shooting 33.3 percent from the field, 18.2 percent from three and 85.7 percent at the line while Florida is sitting at 44.1 percent overall, 18.2 percent from deep and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe. The main issues for the Wildcats? A 25-16 advantage for the Gators on the glass — including eight offensive rebounds, leading to a 12-2 edge on second-chance points. There’s the difference right there in a nine-point halftime deficit.
On the plus side, UK has a 16-8 advantage on the bench and a 10-4 edge in fastbreak points.
The Cats aren’t in a great spot, but they aren’t dead yet.
Kentucky has to get perimeter shooting help
03/13/2026 12:59:51 PMMo Dioubate has two made 3-pointers on two attempts. Everyone else is a combined 0-9, including two misses each for Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen and Andrija Jelavic — plus single misses from Collin Chandler, Kam Williams and Jasper Johnson.
The opportunities have been there to make things interesting, but the Wildcats haven’t been able to capitalize.
Florida stole back all of the momentum
03/13/2026 12:46:08 PMAfter tying things up at 20-20, the Gators have put together a 13-2 run to take their biggest lead of the day — as many as 13, but down to 11 currently. Micah Handlogten pulled off a pretty impressive putback dunk, admittedly, followed by a second-chance three for Boogie Fland. Denzel Aberdeen stopped the bleeding with a driving layup through contact to make it 33-22 and get us to the media timeout, but Kentucky is in a tough spot going into the final segment of the first half.
The Cats, just 2-9 from three, could really use some perimeter help right about now.
1H 7:23 Florida 26, Kentucky 20
03/13/2026 12:35:54 PMKentucky briefly tied it at 20-20, but Florida has since responded with a 6-0 run, thanks to a pair of mid-range jumpers for Boogie Fland and two free throws for Thomas Haugh.
Florida is shooting 47.8 percent overall, 16.7 percent from three and 100 percent at the line compared to 44/40/100 splits for Kentucky. Alex Condon is up to seven, followed by five from Xaivian Lee, four from Fland and Urban Klavzar and two from Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten. Mo Dioubate leads the Cats with 10, followed by Otega Oweh with six and Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson with two each.
THE MO DIOUBATE GAME
03/13/2026 12:26:45 PMAnd just like that, Kentucky has it down to two, thanks to 10 points — and a pair of 3-pointers! — from Mo Dioubate. The Cats are on an 8-0 run, with Otega Oweh adding six points himself and Malachi Moreno earning a bucket, too.
As a team, UK has shooting splits of 64/50/100 through nine minutes while UF is sitting at 53/25/100.
Hell of a response from the Cats. Keep it up, fellas.
It’s another double-digit deficit
03/13/2026 12:17:20 PMIf Kentucky is going to win this one, the Wildcats are gonna have to climb out of another big hole. Like both other meetings against the Gators, Florida pushed ahead to early double-digit leads, and less than six minutes into the game, they’ve done it again at 16-6.
Tough opening segment for the Cats
03/13/2026 12:09:02 PMLike clockwork, Xaivian Lee is picking up where he left off against Kentucky, scoring five quick points — including a wide-open three — to put Florida up 8-2. Meanwhile, Otega Oweh has two early turnovers, though both should have been fouls on the Gators. Malachi Moreno’s jump hook should have been an and-one, too.
No changes to the starting five
03/13/2026 11:55:20 AM“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — Mark Pope.
It’ll be Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno once again for the first five for Kentucky. It’s the five-man group we’ve seen since the Ole Miss matchup in Lexington back on January 24.
We meet again, Doug Shows
03/13/2026 11:36:44 AMThe Cats got Pat Adams on Thursday, and now today, it’s gonna be the Doug Shows Show at Bridgestone Arena. He’ll be joined by Byron Jarrett and Owen Shortt.
Shows has a 99-46 all-time record officiating Kentucky games for a win percentage of .682. Elsewhere, UK is 23-5 (.821) with Shortt and 34-14 (.708) with Jarrett.
Kam Williams once again a game-time decision
03/13/2026 10:34:48 AMKam Williams was a game-time decision on Thursday after playing 17 minutes vs. LSU. The sophomore wing is back on the Availability Report as a game-time decision after playing 13 minutes vs. Missouri. Postgame, Williams said he would do everything he could to play today after missing the first two games vs. the Gators.
How to Watch, Listen
03/12/2026 08:12:16 PMA familiar crew is back on the broadcast today, Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, and Alyssa Lang calling the action on ESPN.
- Tipoff: 1:00 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, Alyssa Lang)
- Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
- AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
- FM: 98.1 WBUL
- Online: iHeart Radio
- Sirius XM: 106 or 190
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