It’s been said that basketball season starts the Monday after the Super Bowl. Maybe that’s true, but not in Kentucky. Basketball season is year-round in Kentucky.
That said, now is the time we’re going to start to really find out just how good this Wildcats team is. They had their bye week this week, having not played during the middle of the week. Saturday, they take the court against the Florida Gators. Kentucky is 17-7 overall and 8-3 in SEC play. If the SEC Tournament started today, Kentucky would
be the No. 2 seed.
Florida is an absolute beast of a team. They are big, relentless, and experienced. Even after losing Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard— plus Denzel Aberdeen— the Gators are still at the top of the SEC entering mid-February.
There was talk during non-conference play and the start of the SEC play that the Gators were struggling. Maybe that was true, but they played a brutal non-conference schedule. Since dropping their SEC opener at Missouri, the Gators are 9-1. Don’t forget, their top three scorers currently were all on last year’s team that won the national championship.
Beating this Florida team is going to require Kentucky playing its best game of the season. Period. No exceptions. Think of Florida as an upscale version of Tennessee. The Gators are extremely physical and will keep the pressure on Kentucky for 40 minutes.
Kentucky did beat Florida last year, 106-100, a thriller at Rupp Arena when Koby Brea made seven three-pointers, and Kentucky went 14-29 from three-point range. Six Wildcats were in double figures, and the Wildcats had 25 assists on 37 field goals. The Wildcats are 4-1 against the Gators since Todd Golden became their head coach. One thing to note, though, is that the Gators won the rebound battle 38-30.
Players to watch on Florida
1. No. 10: Thomas Haugh — 6-9, 215 lbs. Jr. Forward; NEW OXFORD, Pa.
Stats: 17.5 pts, 6.3 rebs, 46.9 FG%, 34.4 3-PT FG%, 75.2 FT%, 33.9 mpg
Haugh was Florida’s sixth man last year on the Gators’ national championship team, and he was the only player to score in every game last season for the Gators. A member of the NCAA Tournament’s All-West Region Team, Haugh made two crucial three-pointers in the final three minutes to vault Florida’s comeback against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight. In four games in the West Region, Haugh averaged 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. Haugh had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the Elite Eight against the Red Raiders. It was also his fast-break and-one dunk with 12 minutes remaining that changed the entire second half of the national championship against Houston.
This season, Haugh has four double-doubles and 10 games with 20+ points. Durability is a big part of Haugh’s game, with 15 games playing 35+ minutes.
2. No. 21: Alex Condon — 6-11, 236 lbs. Jr. Forward/Center; PERTH, Australia
Stats: 13.3 pts, 7.9 rebs, 34 blk, 51.4 FG%, 13.6 3-PT FG%, 64.1 FT%, 30.3 mpg
Another vital part of Florida’s national championship team, Condon dove on the loose ball as the clock expired to win the national championship for the Gators. It was the culmination of a game where Condon had 12 points, seven rebounds, and four steals. In addition, Condon’s 103 offensive rebounds last season were the third-most in a single season in program history.
Condon has five double-doubles this season and four games with 20+ points. In addition, he has 12 games with multiple blocks.
3. No. 9: Rueben Chinyelu — 6-10, 265 lbs. Jr. Center; ENUGWU-AGIDI, Nigeria (Washington State Transfer)
Stats: 11.8 pts, 11.8 rebs, 60.9 FG%, 0-1 3-PT FG, 67.8 FT%, 24.5 mpg
If there’s a word that does justice to describe Chinyelu, I’d use it. Needless to say, he’s a tank. Kentucky needs to be ready to throw the kitchen sink at him.
Chinyelu has 14 double-doubles on the season, and he has three games with 20+ rebounds. Two of those are in SEC play, including Wednesday night against Georgia. Not only is Chinyelu a great rebounder, but he also has increased his scoring average by over two points per game in the past two months.
Chinyelu is built like a behemoth. A guy like him is someone you can only hope to contain.
4. No. 0: Boogie Fland — 6-3, 185 lbs. So. Guard; BRONX, N.Y. (Arkansas Transfer)
Stats: 11.4 pts, 2.5 rebs, 90 ast.-40 TO, 48 stl, 42.6 FG%, 18.7 3-PT FG%, 71.8 FT%, 30.5 mpg
Fland is one of three players on the Gators with at least 83 assists through 24 games. That’s another thing about the Gators; they can move the ball well.
It’s great to see Fland healthy this season, because he was coming on strong before sustaining an injury in the middle of his freshman season at Arkansas.
A former McDonald’s All-American, Fland has nine games with five+ assists this season. He’s also played 30+ minutes 15 times.
5. No. 1: Xaivian Lee — 6-4, 180 lbs. Sr. Guard; TORONTO (Princeton Transfer)
Stats: 11 pts/gm., 3.9 rebs, 37.9 FG%, 25.5 3-PT FG%, 78.9 FT%, 26.7 mpg
All five starters for Florida average double-digit points. Lee is probably the one you know the least about, but he’s still a really good player. He’s also one of the Gators’ most reliable three-point shooters.
Coming over from Princeton, where he scored over 1,000 points and was a unanimous selection on the 2025 All-Ivy League First Team, setting a single-season Princeton school record with 165 assists and scoring over 1,100 points in three seasons with the Tigers.
Lee has scored in double figures 13 times this season, including three games with 20+ points. He also has six games with three or more three-pointers.
Don’t lose sight of Lee with all of the other towering players in the Gators’ front-court. Lee must be accounted for if the Gators kick the ball back out to the perimeter off offensive rebounds.
6. No. 7: Urban Klavzar — 6-1, 190 lbs. Jr. Guard; DOMZALE, Slovenia (Real Madrid Transfer)
Stats: 9.8 pts, 1.5 rebs, 42.4 FG%, 38.6 3-PT FG%, 90% FT, 21.2 mpg
Like Lee, Klavzar must be accounted for. He comes off the bench, but he can shoot from beyond the arc. In fact, he’s the Gators’ leader in three-point field goal percentage. Eight times this season, Klavzar has made three or more three-pointers, including three games with four.
Klavzar has scored in double figures 13 times this season and five times in the last six games.
7. No. 20: Isaiah Brown — 6-4, 220 lbs. So. Guard; ORLANDO, Fla.
Stats: 5.4 pts, 2.3 rebs, 48.2 FG%, 36.4 3-PT FG%, 77.4 FT%, 11.7 mpg
Brown is another capable three-point shooter, with four games with multiple three-pointers. His three double-digit scoring games have come in the last seven games,
8. No. 3: Micah Handlogten — 7-1, 260 lbs. Sr. Center; LAKE NORMAN, N.C. (Marshall Transfer)
Stats: 4.5 pts, 6 rebs/gm., 65.3 FG%, 0-1 3-PT FG, 40.9 FT%, 14.7 mpg
Handlogten illustrates how deep the Gators are. He’s their eighth-leading scorer, but he averages six rebounds per game. Last season, he initially planned to take a redshirt to rehab from a leg injury, but with seven games left in the regular season decided to forego the redshirt after Florida suffered a pair of frontcourt injuries. It made a huge difference. Handlogten is only two seasons removed from having 108 offensive rebounds, the second-most in a single season in Gators history. In addition, Handlogten was the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year at Marshall, starting all 32 games during his freshman season and averaging 7.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.3 blocked shots, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 assists while shooting .662 from the field (.720 in conference play). He ranked 11th in the nation in blocked shots per game.
This season, Handlogten has two double-doubles and four games with double-digit rebounds. He also has only five games in which he took at least one shot and his field goal percentage was lower than 50 percent.
Head Coach: Todd Golden (4th Season, 94-39; 7th Season Overall, 151-75) — 40 years old
Todd Golden is a terrific head coach. I said last year, before the NCAA Tournament, that he’s Billy Donovan 2.0. Then, he led the Gators to a national championship, their third in school history and third in the last 20 years. At age 39, he became the youngest head coach to win a national championship since Jim Valvano in 1983. Florida won 12 straight games to end the season, including nine wins over top 25 teams and eight wins against teams in the top 12.
Golden spent three seasons as the head coach at San Francisco prior to coming to Florida, leading the Dons to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. It was their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998.
In his playing days, Golden starred for Saint Mary’s. As a senior point guard, he ranked second in the nation with a 3.68 assists-to-turnovers ratio and led the West Coast Conference with a .574 3-point field goal percentage. The lone captain of Saint Mary’s 2007-08 team, Golden finished his career as the Gaels’ all-time leader in free-throw percentage (.852) and eighth with 269 career assists. Todd’s wife, Megan, was a four-year volleyball standout at Saint Mary’s and the WCC’s Co-Freshman of the Year in 2007.
Keys to the Game
1. Defensive rebounding
The importance of defensive rebounding on Saturday cannot be overstated. Florida averages 16.3 offensive rebounds per game. That’s in addition to their 46 rebounds per game. Only twice this season have the Gators not had at least 10 offensive rebounds in a game, and twice they have pulled down 60+ rebounds. That’s insane, in addition to having five games with 20+ offensive rebounds. I might be generous here, but if Kentucky can keep the rebound battle within 10, they can win this game.
2. Transition offense
When the Wildcats get defensive rebounds, they need to get out and run. That’s not only their best offense, but that will also keep the Gators back from the boards when they are on offense. If they have to worry about the Wildcats running, they may not be as aggressive on the offensive glass. Speed the game up and make it a finesse game, and that could put the Wildcats in the driver’s seat.
3. Free-throw and three-point shooting
Free-throw shooting needs to improve for this Kentucky team. Collin Chandler and Denzel Aberdeen are their best free-throw shooters. After them, it gets hairy. Otega Oweh can be good from the free-throw line. I think the week off will help him. Kentucky needs him to be more automatic from the charity stripe.
One way to neutralize a great rebounding team is through three-point shooting. If the Wildcats can spread their offense out beyond the arc, that’s going to force the Gators to extend their defense, and that will create opportunities for the Wildcats to get extra possessions off missed three-pointers.
When Kentucky beat Tennessee twice, they did it with three-point shooting. That was a big part of both wins against the Vols. It will have to be against an upscale version of Tennessee against Florida. If the Wildcats can shoot at least 40 percent from three-point range Saturday, they will win this game.
4. Offensive rebounding
If Kentucky pulls down at least 13 offensive rebounds, they will be in a position to win this game. Offensive rebounding will give the Wildcats extra possessions and take them away from the Gators. This is a game where the Wildcats can win by beating the Gators at their own game: offensive rebounding.
Score Prediction: Gators 88, Wildcats 82
This is a big game for the SEC regular-season title race. If Kentucky wins this game, I think they will go on to win it.
Florida is a really good team. They’re good because they wear teams down with their size. I think they will do that to Kentucky Saturday afternoon, but not without a fight from the Wildcats.
