Gators blast Bama to advance to first SEC semifinal since 2019
Round 3 goes to the Gators.
Florida advanced to its first SEC Tournament semifinals since 2019 on Friday with an 102-88 win over Alabama, sparked by a late first-half run. UF got off to a shaky start but quickly regrouped and boat raced the Crimson Tide with a 17-0 run before halftime that they never recovered from.
The Gators led by 20 or more for the majority of the second half and maintained a double-digit advantage for the entire period. Tyrese Samuel scored eight of the team’s first 10 points after the break as they stretched their lead to 20-plus points just three minutes into the second half.
“They’re the No. 1 offense in America for a reason,” UF coach Todd Golden said of the Crimson Tide. “We knew that we were gonna have to keep scoring to win the game. We weren’t gonna try to take the air out of the ball. We weren’t gonna try to run clock in the second half. We wanted to keep our foot on the gas and keep being efficient and keep scoring and we did a great job.”
Five Gators finished in double figures for the second straight game and Walter Clayton Jr. once again led the team with 23 points, his 14th 20-point performance this season and fourth in the last five games. He was 11-for-11 at the line as Florida made 86% of its free throws (31-for-36).
Samuel scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and fellow graduate transfer Zyon Pullin finished with 17 points, including 10-for-11 at the charity stripe. Freshman Alex Condon added 12 points off the bench and starting guard Will Richard had 10.
“The versatility and depth, anyone on our team can play,” Samuel said. “We’ve got great guys, coming from Walt, Zyon, Condo, (Thomas) Haugh, Micah (Handlogten), doesn’t matter. We’ve got depth, so that’s the main thing.”
The Gators closed out the first half in dominant fashion, going on a 21-2 over the final five and a half minutes that included the 17-0 stretch. The Crimson Tide went 4:29 without a field goal and missed seven straight shot attempts.
Alabama jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the game’s first two minutes, forcing Golden to take a timeout. Florida chipped away at the deficit and the two teams went back and forth for most of the first half until UF’s run in the last 5:24.
“They came out fast out the gate, but we kept our composure and it showed,” Samuel said. “And we came with a 15-point lead going into halftime.”
The Gators had a 98-93 overtime loss in Tuscaloosa but blew out the Tide at home, 105-87. Their 102 points on Friday ties an SEC Tournament record.
Tennessee and Kentucky were also eliminated Friday, marking the first time since 1983 that the top three tournament seeds didn’t make the semifinals.
Florida (23-10, 11-7 SEC) will face No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN after No. 4 seed Auburn vs. No. 9 seed Mississippi State. The Aggies upset No. 2 seed Kentucky, 97-87, on Friday and defeated the Gators in College Station, 67-66, on Feb. 3 to snap their four-game winning streak.
