No.4 Florida beats No.8 Tennessee 86-77 in the SEC Tournament Championship game, winning their 5th Conference Tournament championship in program history and clinching their spot as a No.1 seed in March Madness.
Tennessee Forward Igor Milicic Jr. gave Tennessee an early 6-3 lead in the first half at 19:14 after knocking down a 3-point shot. That 3-point lead was short-lived as with 18:04 left in the first half, Florida Guard WIll Richard hit a big-time 3, putting Florida up 8-6. Tennessee would find themselves down the entirety of the game following that bucket by Richard.
Despite being down 60-47 midway through the 2nd half and not seeing a lead for the rest of the game, the Vols never stopped putting up a fight as they went on a 15-7 run, making it a 67-62 game. What once was a 13-point deficit turned to only a 5-point deficit with 7:07 remaining in the game. That late-game surge wasn’t enough to push the Volunteers past the Gators as Florida would go on a late-game run as well, outsourcing Tennessee 11-2 in a 3-minute stretch, putting the final nail in the coffin as the Gators would go on to win with a final score of 86-77.
“We get here; we like to win it. Again, give them credit. They got it done today. We’re disappointed. We’ve got to get ourselves back, ready for next week.” Tennessee’s Head Coach told reporters at his presser after the loss to Florida.
Even with the loss, Tennessee showed some promising star power from their back court, with Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey combining for 47 points.
The three difference makers in this game were Walter Clayton Jr., rebounding by the Gators, and the ability to score in the paint. The Gators dominated on the glass and the paint, out rebounding the Volunteers 39-25 and outsourcing the Gators 32-20 in the paint.
Highly touted Senior Guard Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators in scoring on Sunday, dropping 22 Points, shooting 7/18 from the field and 4/11 from 3.
“I came here because I believed in that vision,” Clayton said of winning titles at Florida. “See, it came to fruition. It is actually happening, and it is great”, said Clayton, following his championship performance.
“When we’re playing like this, I think we are the best team in America,” said Florida Head Coach Todd Golden following his team’s conference tournament championship win.
The Florida Gators have been playing some of the best basketball amongst any team in college basketball over the past 2 months. They are a scary matchup heading into this year’s March Madness.
