Denzel Aberdeen shook off the boos and scored 19 points against his former school

From the pregame warmups until the final buzzer, Denzel Aberdeen was met with boos and jeers from Florida fans whenever possible. He ignored the hate en route to a 19-point performance, although it wouldn’t be enough in Kentucky’s 92-83 loss to the Gators.

Born and raised in the Sunshine State, Aberdeen was a key ingredient to helping Florida win the national championship last season. But after three seasons in Gainesville, he opted for another SEC team in hopes of an increased role, one that he quickly earned at UK. Aberdeen came into Saturday’s game against his former school playing the best basketball of his career, and he carried that momentum into the 40-minute contest.

“I had no doubt about Denzel,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope told Tom Leach on postgame radio. “He loves competition. He’s not scared of the lights. He’s not scared of the fans. He loves to compete. He’s just got an inner peace about him that’s actually pretty special. And so I knew he would come play well.”

Denzel Aberdeen booed in the O’Dome during starting introductions pic.twitter.com/GOZr8Uqy3P

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) February 14, 2026

Granted, it wasn’t Aberdeen’s best showing of the season. The 6-foot-5 guard had more shot attempts (8-21 FG, 1-6 3PT) than points in his 34 minutes of action. Especially early on, it felt like he was trying to prove a point in the arena he once called home. He hit his fair share of difficult looks, but was caught forcing the issue several times.

“I thought we did a great job on him,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said about his former player. “I thought he made some tough shots.”

But Aberdeen eventually settled in and finished as a +5 on the floor in Kentucky’s nine-point loss. It was those six minutes he didn’t play that allowed Florida to build a big lead. Aberdeen also chipped in four assists, a rebound, and a steal for good measure. He even fueled a couple of second-half comeback attempts from the ‘Cats, although those were ultimately shut down by a Florida team that always found ways to respond.

Aberdeen had plenty of taunts sent his way throughout the game. From “Florida dropout” to “Gator traitor”, the home fans were letting him hear it. It’s exactly what he and his coach expected, though. Not even national champions are immune to being booed by their former team’s fans.