LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Thomas Haugh had 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 5 Florida beat Kentucky 84-77 on Saturday to end the regular season with an 11-game winning streak.
Boogie Fland added 16 points and six assists for the Gators (25-6, 16-2 Southeastern Conference), the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament at Nashville, Tennessee. The defending national champions completed a regular-season sweep of the Wildcats (19-12, 10-8).
Alex Condon scored 14 points for Florida. Rueben Chinyelu had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Xaivian Lee finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 28 points, 17 in the first half. Oweh was honored before the game along with follow senior Denzel Aberdeen and walk-ons Zack Tow and Walker Horn.
Aberdeen scored 15 points, and Mouhamed Dioubate added 10 off the bench for Kentucky.
Florida scored the first 11 points and never trailed. Meanwhile, the Wildcats missed their first seven shots, including three from 3-point range.
Haugh scored 17 points and connected on three of the Gators’ six 3s in the first half.
Despite the sluggish start, Kentucky regrouped and pulled within one twice before Florida responded with 13 straight points. A 25-8 run gave the Gators a 45-27 advantage with 2:19 remaining in the first half, and Florida led 49-32 at the break.
Up next
Florida won the SEC regular-season title by three games over Arkansas and gets a double bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament Friday.
Kentucky was awaiting its first SEC Tournament opponent.
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