Florida Gators men's basketball advances to SEC Tournament title game with blowout of Bama
Florida Gators men's basketball advances to SEC Tournament title game with blowout of Bama
Florida and Alabama battled over the first 20 minutes of an SEC Basketball Tournament semifinal game Saturday afternoon, but it was all Gators in the second half as the Orange and Blue took down the Crimson Tide, 104-82, setting a new season-high in points in the process.
Six Gators finished with double digit points, including a combined 54 points from Florida's big three of Walter Clayton Jr. (22), Alijah Martin (16) and Will Richard (16). Rueben Chinyelu posted his fourth double-double of the year with a 10-and-10 performance over 16 minutes, and Micah Handlogten also grabbed 10 boards over 14 minutes. It wasn't Alex Condon's best game, but the rest of the team picked up any slack. Even walk-on Bennett Andersen scored his first bucket in the final Gators possession of the game.
The victory puts Florida back into the SEC Championship for a second straight year, and it's a chance to decide the season series against Tennessee after splitting the two regular season games — each team winning by 20 or more points.
A frenetic first half
Any matchup between top-5 offenses is bound to be a high-scoring affair. Alabama is No. 3 in adjusted offensive efficiency and Florida is just behind at No. 4, so it wasn't too surprising to see the two teams on pace for well over a combined 200 points through the first 10 minutes.
Things slowed down a bit leading into the break, but a 47-45 score at halftime rivals an NBA scoring pace. Of course, it helps when there are four potential pro guards in this matchup, with Walter Clayton Jr. and Mark Sears among the best scorers in the country. Clayton led all scorers at the break with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, all four buckets coming from beyond the 3-point line.
It wasn't the best first 20 for Florida's star big man, Alex Condon, but the rest of the frontcourt rotation picked up the slack. Thomas Haugh had eight points and four rebounds playing starter minutes (14) off the bench, and Rueben Chinyelu went 3-of-4 from the field for six points and added seven rebounds — three on the offense glass. Micah Handlogten was perhaps the most efficient Florida big, scoring four points and four rebounds in as many minutes. There's nothing more dangerous than a high-energy center off the bench.
A tale of two halves
Coming out of halftime, everyone in the building expected another fast-paced half but they got a slugfest instead. Some early fouls led to both teams scoring a ton in the first half, but Florida picked up the defense in the second half, even after Rueben Chinyelu picked up an early third foul.
After blocking zero shots in the first half, Florida denied four attempts and forced four more turnovers on steals in the second. A lot of that success can be attributed to Alabama losing Grant Nelson in the second half to a left leg injury. Nelson was a presence down low early, but the Tide looked lost in the paint without him.
Florida jumped out to a 10-point lead after three minutes in the second half and never looked back, building the lead to 20 by the 9-minute mark and pushing it 24 points twice. Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard all scored 10 or more points in the half, with Clayton adding five assists.
Florida deserves the No. 1 seed
No matter what happens in the championship game tomorrow, Florida should be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the selection committee announces the field later on in the day. Tennessee entered the day behind Alabama as the second No. 2 seed in the country and Florida held the fourth No. 1 seed, according to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
With Tennessee taking down the likely top overall seed, there's a world where blowing out Florida gets them into the No. 1 seed conversation, but the Gators proved they are the deepest team in the country and beat Alabama at its own game. Todd Golden said that the goal was to win nine in a row and finish on top of both tournaments; the first leg of that run can be locked up tomorrow at 1 p.m. EDT.
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