Todd Golden shares Florida's mindset entering overtime against Kentucky

Florida secured a massive win for its NCAA Tournament resume on Wednesday night when it took down No. 10 Kentucky on the road at Rupp Arena in an overtime classic.

The Gators improbably tied the game up with five seconds remaining in regulation on a Walter Clayton Jr. 3-pointer. That was all it took for the team to start playing loose again and let rip.

“Once we got it to overtime it kind of felt like we were playing with house money at that point,” coach Todd Golden said. “We weren’t nervous about anything. It was a five-minute game. Obviously if you would have asked us coming into it tonight, would you have taken a five-minute game to determine the winner we would have said absolutely.”

Florida quickly took the lead in overtime with a Tyrese Samuel jumper from the left side of the floor. Kentucky briefly answered before Florida really put the clamps down defensively.

“‘Rese hitting that baseline jumper kind of got us going and just made some big shots,” Golden said. “I thought down the stretch guarded very well. I think we held them to, yeah, 25% in overtime.”

The team quickly opened a 94-87 lead in overtime with about 16 seconds left. Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard hit a 3-pointer to add a modicum of drama, but that was it.

The win gave Florida its first Quadrant 1 win of the season, a huge deal if the program hopes to make it to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s a heck of a win for us,” Golden said. “We’ve been knocking on the door for a win like this in our opportunities. To be honest, I thought our win at Mississippi State at home last weekend was a big win for us because they’ve been playing really well, had just beat Tennessee and then another really good team at home, Auburn. So huge win for us.

“And again, this team that we have, we only have two guys that really played last year, it was Riley (Kugel) and Will (Richard). Brand new group. We have some veterans mixed with some young guys, but this team is really coming together at the right time.”

With the win, Florida improved to 15-6 on the season and 5-3 in conference play. The Gators began SEC play 0-2 but have since won five of the last six games.

Florida will be back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET at Texas A&M. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.