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Kentucky Basketball falls to Florida in SEC Tournament: 4 things to know and postgame banter

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Kentucky Basketball falls to Florida in SEC Tournament: 4 things to know and postgame banter


No. 1 Florida continued its dominance over No. 9 Kentucky Basketball, defeating the Wildcats in the Quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.

Kentucky, hoping to avoid a third straight loss to Florida and head coach Todd Golden, came up short in a matchup that highlighted how hard it is to play three games in three days. Fatigue appeared to be a factor for the Wildcats, who trailed early and struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm.

Kentucky briefly rallied in the first half, tying the game at 20-20, but Florida responded with a dominant stretch, pushing ahead and building a lead Kentucky could not overcome. The Wildcats went through a six-minute scoring drought in the first half, falling behind 37-28.

The Gators maintained control for much of the second half and won 71-63. With the win, Florida advances to the SEC Tournament semifinals, leaving Kentucky to regroup going into the NCAA Tournament.

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This pattern mirrors last season, when Kentucky dropped two regular-season games to Alabama before falling to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Friday’s defeat marks the third consecutive loss to Florida, following wins by the Gators both at Rupp Arena and in Gainesville.

Kentucky now turns its attention to Selection Sunday, waiting to learn its seed, opponent, and regional placement for the NCAA Tournament. While the SEC Tournament exit is disappointing, the Wildcats will look to regroup and refocus as the postseason begins.

4 things to know from Kentucky vs. Florida

1. Scoring droughts continue to be an issue

Scoring droughts have been an ongoing issue for Kentucky this season, and the Wildcats ran into the same problem against Florida in the SEC Tournament. Kentucky tied the game at 20-20 with 9:40 left in the first half, but the Gators responded with a decisive 13-0 run, taking control at 33-20 before Kentucky managed another field goal at the 3:39 mark. That six-minute stretch without a basket proved too much to overcome, and Florida held on to advance in the tournament.

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Kentucky’s offensive struggles have been evident all season, from games against Louisville, Michigan State, and North Carolina to Missouri and beyond. The Wildcats have often had to rely on their defense to make up for extended scoring droughts, but that formula has failed to consistently hold opponents in check. Friday’s matchup highlighted the ongoing challenge under coach Mark Pope, as Kentucky could not sustain offensive momentum and struggled to respond to Florida’s bursts of scoring.

Despite flashes of a great offense at times, it often stalls, with little player or ball movement, something Pope’s Zoom Action offense is known for, but he hasn’t been able to fully run it this year due to a lack of 3-point shooters on the team.

2. Kentucky never led against Florida in all three games

Kentucky never led in any of the three games this season. The Wildcats briefly tied the score on Friday with a 10-0 run that evened the game at 20-20, but they could never sustain momentum against the top-ranked Gators.

Kentucky had a chance to take the lead, but Florida responded immediately, maintaining control and keeping the Wildcats from establishing an offensive rhythm.

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Despite Kentucky having competitiveness and energy at times, the Wildcats could not keep up with the Gators’ adjustments and depth.

For Kentucky, these games serve as a reminder of the challenges they face against elite competition. Tying the score is not enough if the team cannot capitalize on opportunities to seize control. As the Wildcats prepare for the NCAA Tournament, turning momentum into leads will be essential for a deep postseason run. Until then, Florida continues to hold the upper hand in this SEC rivalry.

3. Kentucky smashed on the boards

Kentucky’s struggles on the glass were on full display again. After being outrebounded by Missouri in Thursday’s game, Kentucky fell behind early on the boards against the Gators and never fully recovered.

In the first half, Florida dominated the glass, grabbing 25 rebounds to Kentucky’s 16. The Gators pulled down 17 defensive boards compared to Kentucky’s 13 and added eight offensive rebounds while the Wildcats managed just three. These extra possessions gave Florida second-chance opportunities and kept Kentucky on its heels, limiting the Wildcats’ ability to generate consistent offense.

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While Kentucky lacks size and depth in the frontcourt, Florida boasts one of the nation’s top front courts. The Wildcats’ struggles on the boards underscore a recurring problem that has affected their performance throughout the season.

With the NCAA Tournament approaching, Kentucky will need to improve its presence on the glass if it hopes to make a deep run. Until then, opponents like Florida can continue to capitalize on the Wildcats’ rebounding gaps.

4. Wildcats’ 3-headed goat was shut down

Kentucky’s self-proclaimed “3-headed goat” failed to deliver, and it may have been a sign of fatigue catching up with the trio. Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, and Collin Chandler, who earned the nickname after a standout performance against Vanderbilt earlier this season, were largely ineffective in a game dominated by the Gators.

Oweh and Aberdeen were held to single-digit points for most of the game, struggling to find rhythm against Florida’s defensive pressure. Chandler did not get on the scoreboard until over halfway through the second half and eventually fouled out, leaving the Wildcats without their usual offensive spark. The absence of contributions from the “three-headed goat” made it difficult for Kentucky to sustain momentum, especially playing three games in three days in the SEC Tournament.

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With the SEC exit behind them, Kentucky will need contributions from its guards, as the big men have struggled throughout the year finding their roles, going into the NCAA Tournament.

Now, let’s discuss what happened here today and what you think happens on Selection Sunday!



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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds

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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds


The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.

“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.

What to expect

  • 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
  • 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
  • 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
  • 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
  • Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.

For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.

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Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.

Other Friday highlights included:

  • 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
  • 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
  • 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
  • 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
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With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.



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Bodycam captures life-saving rescue of choking baby by Florida deputies

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Bodycam captures life-saving rescue of choking baby by Florida deputies


A quiet Monday turned into a frantic race against time when a deputy stepped in to save a choking 1-year-old’s life.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call about a 1-year-old baby choking. Upon arrival, the responding deputy performed life-saving procedures to help the child breathe again.

See also: Two arrested after 6-year-old arrives at Florida school with bruises, deputies say

Body camera video shows a deputy holding the baby, flipping it over on its stomach, and beginning to pat the baby’s back.

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When the baby begins to cry, the deputy is heard saying, “he’s good.”



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Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’

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Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’


Weyman Dorsett knew something went wrong with his mom’s surgery as he watched an ICU doctor review her medical charts.

“I’ll never forget and it’ll never leave my mind, the look on that doctor’s face as he was reading through the files,” Dorsett, 53, said. “… He was just shaking his head, like: ‘what in the living hell is going on?’”

His mother, 70-year-old Dorothy Dorsett, was in recovery after a surgeon removed a tumor from her digestive tract. But she was hardly eating and had an abnormally fast heartbeat, according to a lawsuit Dorsett later filed. She was moved to the ICU nearly a week after the surgery.

“She just started really spiraling, pain,” Dorsett said. “She was not my mom.”

She died days later, on Aug. 4, 2023.

About a year later, another patient, William Bryan, 70, died after the same surgeon operated on him.

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The surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested this week, accused of accidentally removing Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, prosecutors said. Shaknovsky operated on both Dorothy Dorsett and Bryan at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach.

Shaknovsky and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. However, he has denied wrongdoing in Dorothy Dorsett’s case in court filings of his own, arguing that some of the allegations were inaccurate and that descriptions of Dorsett’s care were incomplete. The lawsuit remains ongoing.

Do you have a story to share? Email reporter matthew.lavietes@nbcuni.com or reach us at our tip line.

The hospital did not immediately return a request for comment. Earlier this week, Macdonald Walker, a spokesperson for Ascension Sacred Heart, said in a statement that Shaknovsky “was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.”

Weyman Dorsett filed a lawsuit against Shaknovsky and Ascension Sacred Heart last year, accusing the doctor and hospital of negligence. He spoke out for the first time since his mother died in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.

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“I’ve got two boys, a wife, now a grandbaby, and you know, I’m trying to be there for them, but, man, I’ve struggled mentally in dealing with it,” he said. “It’s just not right.”

Harrison Dorsett, Dorothy Dorsett, Mr. Weyman Dorsett Sr (now deceased), and Weyman Dorsett Jr.
Harrison Dorsett, Dorothy Dorsett, Mr. Weyman Dorsett Sr (now deceased), and Weyman Dorsett Jr.Dorsett family

On July 24, 2023, Dorothy Dorsett was admitted to the hospital after suffering abdominal pain, Weyman Dorsett, said. At the time, he said his mom was “in great health.”

“She was going non-stop. She lived on her own, drove everywhere, she went all over,” he said. “Prior to the surgery, she flew to my oldest son’s wedding in Bentonville, Arkansas, with a broken leg from a car wreck.”

At the hospital, his mom was diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding and acute blood loss anemia, according to the civil complaint.

The next day, the Dorsett family met Shaknovsky, whom Weyman Dorsett described as “odd.” He said the doctor prayed by his mom’s bedside before the surgery.

“It was way over the top,” Weyman Dorsett said. “It was very insincere to me.”

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He said his mother thought Shaknovsky was “very weird.”

That day, Shaknovsky performed a colonoscopy and found a tumor in Dorothy Dorsett’s digestive tract, which he removed on July 27, 2023, according to the complaint.

During the surgery following the colonoscopy, Shaknovsky did not perform a routine test, which would have ensured there were no leaks in a newly joined intestine, according to the complaint.

Shaknovsky told the family that the surgery “went great,” Weyman Dorsett said, but his mother’s condition immediately started to deteriorate.

He said that his mom was moved to the ICU on Aug. 2, 2023.

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Weyman Dorsett left that night, but his mother called him to come back to the hospital at midnight, saying she was going to die.

“My mom looked at me and just said, ‘It is what it is. I’ve lived a good life,’” he said. “And I had to sit there and watch her die.”

On Aug. 3, 2023, a doctor on call, Dr. Chun W. Chen, documented Dorothy Dorsett’s condition, according to the complaint, noting that he saw “more air than I would expect postsurgical” and mentioning concern “for bowel perforation specifically around the chain sutures in the pelvis.”

Chen added in the report that pockets of air had formed around Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.

“Although this may be postsurgical, cannot exclude bowel perforation,” he wrote.

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Chen said in a brief phone call that he didn’t remember the patient and declined to comment further.

That evening, Shaknovsky documented in a daily progress note the air and fluid collection in Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.

Shaknovsky did not advise surgical intervention due to Dorothy’s declining organ function and risks associated with anesthesia, the complaint says.

Dorothy Dorsett was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. on August 4, 2023, according to the complaint. She passed away surrounded by family, the complaint says.

“Until you go through it yourself, and to be there with my mom and watch her suffer, and to be there when she takes her last breath has been devastating,” Weyman Dorsett said. “I suffer every day. It’s a haunting memory that I can’t erase out of my mind.”

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Harrison Dorsett, left, Coleman Dorsett, back, and Dorothy Dorsett.
Harrison Dorsett, left, Coleman Dorsett, back, and Dorothy Dorsett.Dorsett family

Allegations of another botched surgery

On Aug. 21, 2024, prosecutors allege that Shaknovsky accidentally removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy.

Shaknovsky, who had been licensed to practice medicine in several states, had his Florida license suspended about a month after Bryan’s death. Later that year, he voluntarily surrendered his license to practice in Alabama. New York then suspended his license in 2025.

Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, filed a civil lawsuit against Shaknovsky in 2025, accusing the surgeon of causing her husband’s death.

After the suit was filed, Weyman Dorsett learned that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration completed an investigation into his mom’s death in September 2024, after Bryan’s botched surgery and more than a year after Dorothy’s death.

The investigation found that Shaknovsky and other hospital physicians “failed to appropriately use diagnostic testing and delayed in ordering imaging to timely treat sepsis” in Dorothy Dorsett’s case, according to a copy of the report.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration did not return a request for comment.

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Shaknovsky was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Bryan, according to officials.

“It’s bittersweet,” Weyman Dorsett said. “You know, nothing’s going to bring back Mr. Bryan, or my mom and all the other people that are still out there that have been butchered and suffered.”

Dorothy Dorsett grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where she and her husband, Weyman Dorsett II, her high school sweetheart, raised their two children: Weyman Dorsett III and his sister.

“She just was everything you would think the American dream mom would be,” he said. “She led by example, best cook in the world. She was our rock.”

She and her husband moved back and forth from Alabama to Miramar Beach, Florida, about 30 miles west of Panama City. She moved to Miramar Beach permanently following the death of Weyman Dorsett II in 2021.

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Weyman Dorsett III described his mother’s passing as a “big piece missing.”



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