{"id":189811,"date":"2026-03-13T06:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T06:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/189811\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T06:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T06:20:09","slug":"kentucky-basketball-vs-florida-gators-time-tv-channel-online-stream-predictions-odds-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/189811\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Basketball vs Florida Gators time, TV channel, online stream, predictions, odds, more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kentucky Basketball<\/a> has survived and advanced again, this time holding off a tenacious and vampire-like Missouri Tigers team 78-72 Thursday afternoon in the Second Round of the SEC Tournament. Now, they will get a third shot at the SEC\u2019s top seed, the Florida Gators<\/a>, on Friday afternoon in the Quarterfinals. Game time is at 1:00 PM ET\/12:00 PM CT in Nashville on ESPN.<\/p>\n

The Cats led Mizzou by as many as 16 in the second half with just over 14:30 to play. But by now, it should be expected that even a 16-point lead isn\u2019t safe. Sure enough, the Tigers came all the way back to take a 70-69 lead with just over two minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, a gritty defensive effort combined with clutch shot-making by Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen enabled the Cats to pull out the win and advance to the Quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret who Florida is. They are on an 11-game winning streak entering Friday afternoon, with two of those wins over Kentucky. While the Cats lost to Florida by only nine and seven points in those two games, they fell behind by large margins in the second half of both. That can\u2019t happen a third time around.<\/p>\n

Florida is firmly in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN\u2019s Joe Lunardi, at the time this story was sent to press, has them projected as the fourth No. 1 seed. They have rebounded from a 9-5 start and 0-1 record in the SEC to put together an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The Gators are battle-tested from a ridiculous non-conference schedule.<\/p>\n

Here is what you need to watch for in Round 3 of Cats vs. Gators.<\/p>\n

3-point shooting\u2026for both teams<\/p>\n

This will likely decide the game on Friday. If Kentucky can hit some 3-pointers, that will extend Florida\u2019s defense out to the perimeter and allow for better looks inside for the Cats.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Kentucky can\u2019t let Florida get hot from beyond the arc. It\u2019s a pick-your-poison matchup because if you focus on their guards, Florida\u2019s bigs can beat you inside. Still, though, don\u2019t give Florida any open looks from beyond the perimeter because they do have shooters that can knock down open 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

This is where the game will be decided. If Kentucky doesn\u2019t fall behind big early, they will have a chance. If Florida races out to a double-digit lead as they did in Lexington just five days ago, that\u2019s likely too much for a Kentucky team playing a third straight day to overcome. The Wildcats have to find a way to keep Florida from having multiple kill shots in the first half to have any hope of pulling out the W.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple, the Cats need Collin Chandler to make multiple, if not several, splashes from beyond the arc. If he does that, the Cats can put Florida in a tough spot defensively. But if the Gators shut him down and limit his touches and open looks, it could be another long afternoon for the Cats against Florida.<\/p>\n

F Thomas Haugh: 6-9, 215 lbs.<\/p>\n

17.2 PPG6.1 RPG47.1 FG%34.4 3-PT FG%75.6 FT%33.4 MPG<\/p>\n

Haugh is a member of the All-SEC First Team and scored 17 and 20 points in two games against Kentucky this season. He made three 3-pointers in Florida\u2019s 84-77 win Saturday in Lexington.<\/p>\n

F\/C Alex Condon: 6-11, 236 lbs.<\/p>\n

14.8 PPG7.6 RPG43 BLK54.5 FG%30.5 MPG<\/p>\n

Condon is on the All-SEC Third Team and leads the Gators in blocked shots with 43.<\/p>\n

G Xaivian Lee: 6-4, 180 lbs.<\/p>\n

11.6 PPG129 ast.41.5 FG%27.7 3-PT FG%78.7 FT%27.1 MPG<\/p>\n

Lee is a veteran with over 100 games played in his college career and is a sneaky weapon from beyond the arc. He made four 3-pointers in the first game against Kentucky back on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

C Rueben Chinyelu: 6-10, 265 lbs.<\/p>\n

11.4 PPG11.7 RPG58.3 FG%69% FT24.6 MPG<\/p>\n

Chinyelu is a beast and a member of the SEC\u2019s All-Defensive Team. He\u2019s had over 10 rebounds in both games against Kentucky this season.<\/p>\n

Time: 1 PM ET on March 13, 2026Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TennesseeTV Channel: ESPNAnnouncers: Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, and Alyssa Lang will call the action.Online Stream: WatchESPN<\/a> and the ESPN app<\/a>.Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network<\/a>.Replay: WatchESPN<\/a> and the ESPN network (check local listings)Rosters: UK<\/a> | UF<\/a>Stats to Know: UK<\/a> | UF<\/a>KenPom: UK<\/a> | UF<\/a>Team Sheet: UK<\/a> | UF<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a> has Florida favored by 11.5 points with an over\/under of 159.5 points. EvanMiya<\/a> (10.4%), KenPom<\/a> (18%), BartTorvik<\/a> (16%), and DRatings<\/a> (23.1%) all see the Cats as heavy underdogs.Predictions: EvanMiya<\/a> (84-71), BartTorvik<\/a> (84-73), and KenPom<\/a> (83-73) all have Florida winning by double digits, while DRatings<\/a> has it at 88-80 for the Gators. Florida is a legitimate title contender and did sweep Kentucky, but it\u2019s hard for teams to beat a conference rival three times in the same season, and both of the previous matchups were decided by single digits. With the game being played in what should be a heavy BBN presence in Nashville, I\u2019m calling for a 79-78 victory, Kentucky!<\/p>\n

Sound off in the comments on how you think this one plays out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kentucky Basketball has survived and advanced again, this time holding off a tenacious and vampire-like Missouri Tigers team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,73532,73533],"class_list":["post-189811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-kentucky-wildcats-basketball","tag-kentucky-wildcats-mens-basketball-schedule"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}