Florida forward Alex Condon (21) is guarded by Kentucky forward Muhammed Diubate (23) during the quarterfinals of the 2026 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on Friday, March 13, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. NASHVILLE — Alex Condon had 22 points and 10 rebounds in No. 4 Florida’s 71-63 win over Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday.
Xaivian Lee had 11 points, six assists and three steals for the Gators (26-6), who outscored Kentucky 50-29 and held the Wildcats to 35.6% shooting despite scoring on 18 fast breaks.
Florida had a 3-point shooting percentage of 15.0% and was left without a field goal from 13:07 to 4:17 in the second half. But the Gators made 10 free throws in that spell.
It was Florida’s third win over Kentucky in three attempts this season.
The Gators are scheduled to meet the winner of Friday afternoon’s game between No. 22 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
Kentucky (21-13) gave up five points in the final minute before Lee hit a 3-pointer. Then he stole from the other side.
Former Gator Denzel Aberdeen led Kentucky with 17 points and three assists. But Kentucky’s leading scorer, Otega Oweh, had just 10 points on 5 of 18 shooting, and its best 3-point shooter, Collin Chandler, was just 1 of 3 from distance and fouled out for six points.
Kentucky’s Mouhamed Dioubate scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and also fouled out.
Florida led 37-28 as Kentucky was reluctant to challenge the larger Gators in the paint from the jump, which allowed Florida to stretch its defense on the perimeter.
That helped Florida jump out to a 16-6 lead, but Dioubate, who is 3 of 23 on 3-pointers, made two in 44 seconds to help get Kentucky within two.
The Wildcats’ Jasper Johnson tied the game with a layup with 9:40 left and remained scoreless until Aberdeen’s layup with 3:39 left cut Florida’s lead to 33-22.
–Chris Lee (Field Level Media)
