50 Rebounds Ended Kentucky’s Season

Kentucky shot 35.6 percent from the floor. Florida shot 37.9 percent. Both teams were hideous from three — Kentucky went 5-of-23, Florida 3-of-20. If shooting decided this game, it would have gone to overtime.

Shooting did not decide this game. Rebounding did.

Florida grabbed 50 rebounds to Kentucky’s 29. Eighteen of those were offensive boards. That generated 12 second-chance points against just 2 for Kentucky, and it meant every Florida miss was just another possession. When your threes aren’t falling, the only thing that saves you is getting the ball back. Florida got it back 18 times off their own misses. Kentucky got it back 4.

Alex Condon was the reason Florida’s bad shooting night didn’t matter. 22 points, 10 rebounds — 5 offensive — on 7-of-12 shooting. When the Gators’ perimeter game disappeared at 3-of-20 from deep, Condon just went to work underneath. He got fouled, went to the line 11 times, and made 8.

Thomas Haugh shot 2-of-9 from the floor but made 9-of-10 free throws, grabbed 8 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Rueben Chinyelu scored 4 points but hauled in 10 rebounds with 3 steals and a block. Florida’s three bigs combined for 28 rebounds. Kentucky’s entire team had 29.

That’s not a gameplan failure. That’s a size mismatch that no amount of scheming can fix when the other team decides to crash the glass with three bigs who all weigh over 230 pounds.

Florida attempted 33 free throws. Kentucky attempted 20. Florida made 24 — more made free throws than Kentucky had made field goals.

When you outshoot the other team at the stripe by 13 attempts, you do not need to make threes. The foul trouble compounded everything: Kentucky committed 24 fouls to Florida’s 19, and every extra trip to the line extended a lead UK could never erase.

There was fight. Mouhamed Dioubate scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting, drilling 2 threes when the rest of Kentucky was 0-for-9 from deep. He was the only reason the halftime deficit was 9 instead of 20. Then he picked up his fourth foul and eventually fouled out.

Denzel Aberdeen finished with 17 points against his former team, hitting the threes that cut it to 5 with 90 seconds left. But Collin Chandler also fouled out. Otega Oweh went 5-of-18 with 4 turnovers and a technical foul.

Kentucky trailed by 17 in the second half and clawed back to within 5. Then Xaivian Lee buried a three with 50 seconds left, stole the ball on the next possession, and the season was over at 21-13.