Thomas Haugh had a team-high 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and No. 5 Florida closed out its Southeastern Conference regular season with its 11th straight win, holding off Kentucky 84-77 on Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Ken.
Boogie Fland had 16 points and six assists, while Alex Condon posted 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists for the Gators (25-6, 16-2).
Rueben Chinyelu produced 13 points and eight rebounds. Xaivian Lee posted 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, as Florida beat the Wildcats (19-12, 10-8) for the third time in four meetings.
The Gators converted 28 of 61 shots (45.9%) and made 8 of 18 (44.4%) from beyond the arc.
Top scorer Otega Oweh notched 28 points and five rebounds for the Wildcats.
Denzel Aberdeen had 15 points and five assists, but Kentucky ended the SEC season in a 2-5 plummet.
Mouhamed Dioubate had 10 points and six boards, as the club shot 39.4% from the floor.
If Florida was worried about being ambushed by the Wildcats in their home finale, the defending national champions did not show it.
The Gators played out front right away after the tip-off, soaring away on an 11-0 run. Lee’s three-pointer just 2:34 into the clubs’ second matchup forced Kentucky coach Mark Pope to call a timeout.
The home side finally scored on Andrija Jelavic’s short jumper two minutes later, but the damage had been done, and it had to chase the SEC’s top team the remainder of the half.
However, Kentucky cut it to 20-19 on Brandon Garrison’s dunk at 8:57, but Haugh contributed a pair of his own thunderous slams on the next two possessions as his team moved ahead by five and on a 15-0 run.
Haugh and Oweh topped their teams with 17 points apiece as the Gators led 49-32 at the break.
In the second half, Florida kept the halftime margin at around 17 until Jasper Johnson’s long ball made it 61-48 at 12:01, but Isaiah Brown’s trey and Haugh’s putback increased the lead to 18 at 10:44.
Aberdeen’s two free throws got Kentucky to 82-77 with 19.2 seconds left, but Florida managed to close out the campaign with another win.
