All good things must come to an end, as they say, and that nugget of truth applied to Florida basketball’s 13-game winning streak to start the 2024-25 campaign. In a hard-fought battle in hostile territory, the Gators fell to the Kentucky Wildcats, 106-100, in the Southeastern Conference schedule opener inside Rupp Arena.
[autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] had his team hitting on all cylinders out of the gate, stretching out an 11-point lead with 11:13 remaining in the first half. However, a 16-0 run by the ‘Cats spearheaded a strong finish that put Kentucky up by 10 by the time the halftime horn rang.
Florida fought back in the second half, but alas, [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag].’s game-leading 33 points were not enough to overcome the home team’s three-point-fueled barrage. He, along with Golden and fellow guard [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] shared a few words with the media after the game.
Golden’s opening statement
“First of all, good game. Credit to Kentucky, I thought every time we made a run and had a little momentum, I thought they stepped up and made some big-time winning plays, big shots, and just kept us at bay in those moments. I was proud of my guys; I thought we battled pretty hard.
“Obviously, we guarded poorly today, but we did some other really good things, obviously dominating the glass and being really physical, getting to the line 35 times, scoring 100 points. Again, some good things for us to take out of this game, but going on the road in SEC play, we’ve got to find a way to defend better.”
On Kentucky’s 3-point success
“It’s interesting because going into it, the way we were looking at it with guarding the line, we thought if we did a good job with Koby (Brea) and Jaxson (Robinson) that we’d be in good shape, and we just didn’t. I thought Koby did a great job taking advantage of his opportunities.
“There were times where we were staying in his space, but it felt like every time we gave him a little bit of room he was able to separate and knock it down. He didn’t let us off the hook at all today. He banged seven of them, and Jaxson only made two but he made some big ones.
“We did two things really poorly: We didn’t guard the three – gave up 42 points behind the line – and we gave up 44 in the paint. You can’t come in here and expect to win guarding that way. The hope is, obviously Kentucky’s a very good offensive team and you’re not going to be able to take away everything, but you can’t let them get you from all angles.
“If we get a crack at them at the conference tournament, we’re going to have to figure out a way to take away at least the rim twos or their catch-and-shoot threes for the shooters, and we’ll address that if we get another opportunity down the road.”
Florida’s response to Kentucky’s runs
“I thought we were good. This is a top-10 team on the road for us coming in here. I did a poor job in the first half, probably should’ve used a timeout earlier during that run. We had Walt(er) on the bench at that time, and we were just a little out of sorts. But we were pretty resilient.
“We did a good job, being down 10 at halftime, cutting into the lead pretty quickly. I think we got it to a one-possession game there in the middle part of the second half, and then late I think we were down four at the last media [timeout] and maybe cut it to two.
“Again, to Kentucky’s credit, every time we were within striking distance, they made big shots. That (Andrew) Carr three was huge. I think that was probably the cherry on top for them and iced it. But I thought our guys were pretty resilient. I thought we stayed the course and, process-wise, besides the defensive end I thought we were pretty good.”
Clayton on Florida’s overall performance
“Bad defense. It’s tough when you put up a hundred and allow the other team to put a hundred and (six). When you do that, you’re doing something wrong defensively. Coaches gave us a game plan that we didn’t execute as players.”
Martin on team’s defensive performance
“Just let them get whatever they wanted. We didn’t take anything away from them. That’s what coach told us and it’s true. We let them be comfortable. We let them do what they do. We let their shooters shoot. I think we beat ourselves.
“We’re a much better defensive team and we didn’t display it today. We have a quick turnaround to play Tennessee, we’ll have to worry about that right now.”
Next up for Florida
The Gators welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to the O’Connell Center on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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