Kelly Rae Finley: Aliyah Matharu, Florida took All-SEC snub 'personally' ahead of tournament

During the regular season, Aliyah Matharu was one of the top players in the SEC on both sides of the ball. She ranked third in the league with 18.2 points and 2.8 steals per game, although Florida struggled during conference play.

Despite those numbers, Matharu didn’t make the All-SEC teams. Neither she nor the Gators forgot about that entering the conference tournament – and it helped fuel Tuesday night’s victory over Vanderbilt, according to head coach Kelly Rae Finley.

Matharu put together a huge performance, dropping a career-high 35 points to help lead No. 11-seeded Florida to the 62-59 victory over No. 6 seed Vanderbilt. She also made some big plays on defense with four steals and multiple charges drawn.

After the game, though, Finley said Thursday night was a statement game.

“I’m just gonna be honest, those that know me know that I speak with a lot of truth and honesty. To be top-five in scoring in the conference and top-five in steals and not make any All-SEC [teams], she takes that personally,” Finley told the SEC Now panel. “And we as a program do, too. I think she showed tonight why she’s one of the best players in the league.”

Matharu sat out the 2022-23 season at Florida after starting her career at Mississippi State and Texas. In that time, Finley said, she worked on honing her craft to fit the point guard role. Those efforts are paying off in a huge way as Matharu puts up the best numbers of his career.

As for taking that outside motivation and using it to fuel her performance in games, Finley said it’s a key part of her success.

“Aliyah has worked tirelessly at being a point guard,” Finley said of Matharu. “When she came to us, it was not something she had trained a lot. Ball screen reads, film breakdown. All season long and in the season of the past when she sat out, she studied. She isn’t perfect – she wouldn’t claim to be. But she’s a learner, she wants to be better and the fierce competitor that you see is exactly who she is. Sometimes, that fire gets channeled.

“But we talk a lot about, we would never want to train that out of her. It’s what makes her elite at what she does.”

Matharu didn’t take the credit, though. During her postgame interview before Finley joined the SEC Now set, she praised her teammates for helping keep her going.

“My team, man. We’ve been through so much this far,” Matharu said. “Injuries, dealing with people being out and not being able to have a full squad. My girls, man. I hate going to the locker room seeing them down, but they are the motivation. My teammates, they keep me going. They keep me pumped up, they keep me in a healthy, positive mind space. It’s all for them.”

Florida will now advance to the quarterfinal round to take on Ole Miss and continue its quest toward stealing a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Gators now have a 16-14 overall record after bringing a 5-11 mark in SEC play into the conference tournament, and they’ve now won two straight in Greenville.

But after defeating Vanderbilt, Finley also had a message about the impact of Matharu’s performance.

“For those of you that aren’t sure if Aliyah Matharu’s a pro, I don’t know. Go back and run the game back,” she said.