All good things must come to an end and Florida Basketball learned that the hard way as the Gators lost their first game of the season in a 106-100 loss to Kentucky.
Given the nature of basketball, there is still a long way to go in 2025, but here are two truths and a lie gathered from the loss.
Truth: Florida's size will be a problem for opponents in the SEC
It is not an accident Florida put up 100 points, and one of the big narratives of the game was how offensive rebounding continued to boost the Gators even against an SEC opponent.
In our pregame prediction, we had noted how Florida was the second-best offensive rebounding team in the country, and we said if metrics held, the Gators should wind up with six or seven more offensive rebounds than Kentucky.
Florida had 15, while Kentucky had 9.
Truth: Walter Clayton has SEC Player of the Year potential
We'll get to his mistakes in a moment, but it shouldn't overshadow the 33-point performance that Walter Clayton had in Lexington, including 6/12 shooting from three.
Clayton was unafraid to take the big shot, multiple times needing to generate on his own with a step-back shot. There were plenty of elements to his game on display that, if he keeps up for the rest of the season, will get him some serious looks for the NBA.
Lie: Florida was battle-tested coming into the game
Ten minutes in, it looked like Florida might run away with the game like they had been doing all season long. But Kentucky punched back and the truth is that Florida simply wasn't ready for a team to punch back.
Parts of Kentucky's big runs were simply tough shots Koby Brea hit, but there were multiple unforced errors the Gators made the difference.
In truth, Florida's nine turnovers were not a massive number. Florida turned it over on 12% of possessions, which is actually a lower rate than what Kentucky normally forces (and Kentucky is only 317th in this category).
But Florida's fatal flaw was it seemed like every time they turned it over, it led to a fast break and the ball in their basket. Kentucky scored 20 points off of those nine turnovers. Clayton getting his pocket picked multiple times was emblematic of this.
Combined with some defensive rotations that led to wide-open threes, and it felt like Florida just wasn't quite ready to face a school that can also punch back on offense.
It's better to have this happen now versus to have this happen in the NCAA Tournament, though, and if the Gators can clean up these mistakes, the potential for an Elite Eight run and beyond is still in play.