Updated Feb. 14, 2026, 7:52 p.m. ET
Coach Todd Golden praised Xaivian Lee, who scored a game-high 22 points.Golden noted the team’s defense and rebounding were crucial in the second half.The coach credited the home crowd at the O’Connell Center for creating a great atmosphere.
Another game, another win for Florida basketball after beating the Kentucky Wildcats inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday afternoon, 92-83. That makes it five-straight victories for the Gators as the regular-season schedule begins to fade into March Madness.
Xaivian Lee led the charge as his late-season surge finally showed the promise he brought when he arrived via the transfer portal from Princeton, dropping a game-high 22 points along with three assists and two rebounds. Urban KlavzÌŒar added 19 as well to bolster a resurgent Florida backcourt.
Following the Valentine’s Day triumph, Todd Golden talked about his team’s effort with the sports media. Here is what he had to say.
Todd Golden’s opening statement
“Yeah, you know, really good college basketball game. I thought we did a really good job first half, getting off to a great start. I thought we kind of lost our edge a little bit in the middle of the first half.
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“I heard you guys talking about the Rueben three, we kind of were lackadaisical with the ball in transition a little bit when I thought we could have maybe knocked them out. But credit to Kentucky, I thought they did a good job fighting, cutting that lead. They went on a 10-0 run on the heels of that, and nip and tuck a little bit early of the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“But I thought we did a really good job, relentless getting on the glass, you know, especially last 10 minutes of the game and making sure we got second-chance opportunities, making sure we got to the line. And our defense was great early, not great in the middle, but pretty good late guarding the line and making sure that we didn’t give up any sort of run down the stretch.
“So, great win. I don’t think we played our best, but we played well enough.”
On Xaivian Lee’s game
“Yeah, I mean, he’s playing great, right? I mean, he was fantastic at Georgia, he was great at Vanderbilt. He’s stacked some really good games over the last couple of weeks, and I thought he was fantastic today. Just got off to a great start knocking shots down.
“To your point, he did a really good job of playing with great patience in the paint, playing off two, making good decisions. And he gave us a big lift. Obviously, him and Urby shooting the ball the way they did allowed us to win the game the way we did today.”
On Micah Handlogten’s defense
“I thought Micah was great. I thought, you know, obviously the stat sheet doesn’t tell the story minus the plus/minus. You know, it felt really good with him out there. He did a great job defensively, cleaned up on the glass.
“And obviously Rueben is, I would argue, the best defensive player in America, and Micah hasn’t been any at that level clearly, but I thought today he did a great job of not allowing any fall-off when he was in the game, and that allowed us to play really well when he was in there and go plus-14.”
On Tommy Haugh vs Otega Oweh
“Yeah. I mean, a big part of our scout was to make it tough on obviously Otega and ‘Zel, and they went 12-for-35 combined from the field, one for nine from three. I thought we did a really good job of defending those guys.
“They were trying to score, and we knew that, and so we wanted to keep two on the ball when they were getting downhill, kind of force them into those play-making decisions. And overall, it was really good for us. And the things that hurt us were other things.
“Like, I thought we did a really poor job on Chandler, letting him get some space. I thought we did a poor job on Dioubate, letting him get left.
“So big-picture-wise, I thought scouting-wise we did a decent job in the main parts of what we were trying to accomplish, but the auxiliary stuff really bothered us and it allowed Kentucky to stay in the game.”
On rewarding Alex Condon’s double-double performance
“Yeah, I mean, I think he’s, as I’ve told you guys, he’s a great player. People want to poke at things about our team or about our personnel when we’re not doing everything perfectly, but you look at the big picture, and how many guys in America would you trade Alex Condon for?
“I can’t think of any at that spot. And he’s been a huge winner for us. And the double-double, huge, but it’s his defense, it’s his winning plays, it’s his effort that’s unmatched, and it’s why he’s such a great player.”
“I mean, we lost our first year here when we were a little banged up. They got us in a great game when they had Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. We led most of the game and they won it late. Aaron Bradshaw hit a big three. That was interesting. And then this was the next time we got them in here and we took care of business.
“Obviously, won there two years ago. So, you know, it is what it is, and just the way the schedule shaped up, and now we’re gonna have a really tough challenge going back to Rupp.
“Obviously, Kentucky is playing a lot better. There’s no doubt about that. I stick by what I said, their ability and the fact that they have some guys out and the rotation has shrunk has allowed people to get comfortable in their roles, and they’re playing a lot better for it.
“So, there’s a reason why they were able to climb into second after a tough starting league play. So they’re playing some good ball. They’re talented.
“Obviously, a $22 million roster. They’re physical, they’re big and I expect them to do well the rest of the year. They’re a really good team.”
On the atmosphere in the O’Dome
“Listen, our crowd is incredible. And we had to earn it when we got the job here in terms of getting kind of the excitement back in the O’Dome. But as I said before, this is why it’s a great place. People really appreciate winning, and they want to be a part of it. They want to be around it.
“And when we’ve given them a semblance of hope about our program, they’ve shown up for us and supported us in a big way. And today was no different. It was a great crowd, great atmosphere. There’s a reason why college basketball is what it is right now.
“It’s games like this on ABC that make it special. And this was a great game.”
On if the team is where Golden thought it would be
“We’re trending. I don’t necessarily have a goal of where we want to be at a certain point. We just want to get better, and we’ve definitely done that over the course of conference play. We’ve improved in a lot of different ways. Our bench has really stepped up and given us the ability to play eight and be complete that way. And we’ve been pretty consistent.
“Obviously, we didn’t play well against Auburn in here, and that one will sting us a little bit, but we haven’t lost since that game. And besides Missouri, in a game where I didn’t think we played great, and they’re improving. They’re a very good team. They won on the road at Kentucky. They won on the road at Texas A&M earlier in the week.
“So, you know, they’re starting to hit their stride, but we’re getting there. We’re not all the way. I thought today we took a step back in some of the areas that we had been growing in, but we’re also getting a lot better in some areas that I didn’t expect us to maybe jump in.
“So we gotta stay the course.”
On Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard being back
“It means everything to me, to be honest. The love that we have for those guys is immeasurable. I think they changed a lot of people’s lives during their time here in Gainesville. And they’re great dudes. They’re a great representation of our program, and obviously led us to a national championship.
“And a lot of guys want to go to the Bahamas, or they want to go to Cabo or Miami, and the fact that these guys came to be with us. They were here yesterday in practice; they sat in with us during film. They were here at shootaround today.
“Obviously, they got a well-deserved moment of recognition sitting there courtside. And it’s just incredible, man. Nobody can ever take away from us what we did together, and I anticipate that relationship with the university being strong for a long time.”
On how Florida has responded to the Auburn loss
“I’m never going to say that a loss benefits us in that sense, but I will say that we responded the right way from it. You have to tip your crap. I thougth Auburn played really well. We didn’t have our best that day. It can happen.
“This league’s really good. There’s a lot of really talented teams. What we’ve been able to do … I think is pretty incredible. We’re winning most every game by double digits. We’re doing it comfortably. We’re guarding at an elite level. I think our offense and defense have been top five nationally over the last 10 games, so we are turning into a complete team.
“We knew this was going to take a little bit of time. We played a tough schedule, lost a little confidence. We were trying to shape through all that, but it’s mid-February and we’re playing some good ball. As we have talked about, and will continue to talk about I don’t think we are at our peak yet.
“I think we have areas that we can still improve, but we’re headed in the right direction.
On Denzel Aberdeen having something to prove
“I thought we did a great job on him. I thought he’d get some tough shows. The one I was disappointed with was the with three we gave up in the first half on the ball screen where our help wasn’t high enough. We understand that for this team, Otega and Aberdeen are going to try and make all of the points.
“We got to do a good job of running Chandler off the line, which we didn’t. But if we could cut their waiter off and that we would give ourselves a good chance to win. They’re both really good players and you’re not going to make them miss every time.
“But you know to go combined 12 of 35, that’s winning basketball for sure.”
What does it mean to be first in the SEC at this point in this season?
“It means a lot because you’re in position. It means first of all that you are playing well, and you’re trying to win a league. But it doesn’t change how we approach anything we do. We’re not going to talk about holding onto first place leading up to the South Carolina game. It really has nothing to do with that.
“I do think, to talk about the Auburn game, that might have been a little bit of our issue that day. We were talking about getting back in position to win the league, look too far forward. This team has been at its best when we’ve living in the now, and focusing on getting better every day, and not worrying about anything other than the next game.”
On out-rebounding Kentucky by 12 over the final 23 minutes
“Well, I think Kentucky has been rebounding the ball better. Tennessee got them on the glass but if you look at their last five or so matchups, they’ve been getting close to 30% of their misses back or more.
“They are playing much bigger than they were earlier. I think its kind of a result of that. Rebounding was a big part of the scout. It was a concern of ours to make sure we kept them off the glass. They got us early. They weren’t making shots. They were getting their second chances.
“We weren’t putting any pressure on the offensive glass. I think we were even at halftime on the glass, but I thought they won the boards. They won the battle of the boards in the first half, but we did a much better job. Our tenaciousness, our physicality, showed up in the last 10 minutes of the game.
“I thought we dominated that way. We kind of refused to not get the ball. That has to be our calling card as we move forward.”
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