Todd Golden reminded everyone that Kentucky never led Florida this season

There are a lot of depressing stats from today’s 71-63 loss. Florida outrebounding Kentucky 50-29 is up there, along with the Gators’ 18 offensive rebounds for 21 second-chance points. Kentucky’s abysmal shooting was also frustrating. The Cats were 21.7% (5-23) from beyond the arc today, which took their total over four games at Bridgestone Arena this season to 24.5% (24-98). The worst stat of all was one that Todd Golden was all too happy to remind viewers of during his postgame interview on the SEC Network.

“I would have preferred to win this game by 20, but we’ll take an eight-point win,” Golden said. “In the three games that we played these guys, they haven’t led for one minute.”

That is true; in fact, Kentucky didn’t lead a single second in all three games. Today, the teams were tied for just over a minute and a half, but that was only at the beginning of the game until someone scored. What a depressing stat that speaks volumes about how good Florida has gotten under Golden, and how disappointing this season has been for Kentucky. Seeing Todd Golden smugly share it for all to hear really hammered it home.

Todd Golden after Florida's win over Kentucky:

"In the three games that we played these guys, they haven't led for one minute." pic.twitter.com/xRzRhIQOIR

— Tristan Pharis (@TristanUda) March 13, 2026

Today’s game followed the script of the other two in almost every way. Florida got off to an 8-2 start, prompting Mark Pope to call a timeout. The lead hit double digits a few minutes later, but the Cats were able to cut it to nine at halftime. Kentucky started the second half horribly, letting Florida take a 17-point lead at the 13:07 mark.

About six minutes later, the Cats started to chip away, just as they did in the previous meetings in Lexington and Gainesville. With three minutes to go, Florida’s lead was in single digits; with 1:21 remaining, it was down to five after a Denzel Aberdeen three. Unfortunately, Xaivian Lee responded with his own three, which proved to be the dagger. The Cats are headed home on Friday at the SEC Tournament for the fourth year in a row.

There is no shame in losing to a team like Florida. The Gators will probably be a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday; however, they were vulnerable today, going over eight minutes in the second half without a field goal and turning the ball over 18 times. Hearing Golden talk about how “rusty” his team was, knowing that Kentucky didn’t capitalize enough on those mistakes, felt like salt in the wound.

“Coming into the conference tournament, we hadn’t played in about a week,” Golden said after the game. “I thought we were a little rusty. Played with good energy in the first half. It was kind of the same story each of the three times we played these guys this year. Got up big in the second half. We were up 17 with 13 to go, had an opportunity to extend to a point where they couldn’t get back in the ballgame. We got sloppy with the ball.

“I thought our execution and the way we played physically for the last 13 minutes was not good enough. That’s something we can address and get ready for our opponent in the semifinals.”

Alex Condon, who finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, echoed those thoughts, saying that the Gators need to step it up moving forward and “play up to the competition.” Ouch.

“It was a bit weird, just playing them already twice this year. We had the scout for them ready to go. I feel like we were a bit passive in the second half, cruising a little bit out there. We’ve got to bounce back, play up to the competition. There are some good teams in the SEC and in March, too.”

The good news is, Kentucky won’t play a team as good as Florida for a while. If the Cats draw a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they could face a No. 2 seed if they make it to the second round. Still, the fact that Kentucky never led Florida for a single second, even on a day the Gators were rusty, to complete the sweep in the event that the Cats used to dominate, stings.