Florida basketball opened up its Southeastern Conference schedule on Saturday with a two-point loss at home to the sixth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 87-85, in a game that the Gators had every chance to win.
Unfortunately, Todd Golden’s gang went cold from the free-throw line and beyond the arc, giving John Calipari’s team the breaks it needed to emerge victoriously. It is hard to feel good about a loss when the squad had an eight-point lead heading into the half, but there were a couple of bright spots too.
One silver lining comes from the NET rankings on Sunday after the Quadrant 1 defeat, which bumped Florida up one spot to No. 48. As for Kentucky, it saw a six-point improvement with the win, moving up to No. 17.
Here’s how the quadrant system breaks things up:
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
Florida is 0-3 against Quadrant 1 opponents, 3-1 against Quadrant 2 opponents, 1-0 against Quadrant 3 opponents and 6-0 against Quadrant 4 opponents.
The Gators will travel for its first road game of the 2024 portion of the schedule with a matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels on Wednesday, Jan. 10, in Oxford, Mississippi. Tipoff is slated for a late 9 p.m. ET start and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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