As Florida trailed Alabama 37-27 with 16:05 remaining, Kenny Boynton woke up from a scoreless slump and put No. 13 UF on his back.
The senior guard scored a game-high 16 points during a 7-minute span in the second half to help the No. 1 seed Gators (26-6, 14-4 Southeastern Conference) rally past the fourth-seeded Crimson Tide (21-12, 12-6 SEC) for a 61-51 victory Saturday afternoon in the SEC Tournament semifinals in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
“My coaches, my teammates, they kept positive with me and told me to keep attacking,” Boynton said. “My turn came and I converted.”
During the stretch, which started at the 14:56 mark and ended at 8:11, Boynton made six of his seven shots as Florida outscored Alabama 20-7. Florida led by at least four points for the remainder of the contest.
Boynton went scoreless on a 0-for-3 shooting clip in the first half but excelled when the Gators needed him most.
After making two free throws – his first two points – to cut Bama’s lead to six, he grabbed a rebound off an Alabama miss and drove coast-to-coast for a layup.
With 13:52 left, Boynton ran off a screen to drill a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the left wing, cutting Bama’s lead to 37-36.
On Florida’s next offensive possession, Boynton ran down the floor in transition and beat Alabama guard Trevor Lacey for a left-handed lay-in.
About a minute later, Boynton used a backdoor cut to penetrate the post and let off a floater, which banked in.
Boynton then made a jumper and another three-point basket to put Florida ahead 50-42.
After a two-point, 1-of-7 shooting performance against LSU on Friday, Boynton was finally feeling it.
“Coach (Billy Donovan) challenged me to come out and be aggressive in the second half,” Boynton said. “I wasn’t aggressive in the first half, so in the second half, I tried to start it off with free throws, and I got it going from outside.”
Bama won the first half 28-25 and smothered Florida defensively in the first 20 minutes, holding the Gators to 11-of-27 shooting and a 1-of-8 mark from behind the arc.
The Gators were forced to play Alabama’s slow-tempo, grind-it-out style of play for most of the game. But after Boynton provided the spark, the Gators found their groove.
Overall, the Crimson Tide shot 45.2 percent but committed 12 turnovers to UF’s four.
Center Patric Young scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Guard Mike Rosario added 10 points.
Donovan is now 6-0 against Alabama coach and former assistant Anthony Grant. The Gators are now 2-1 this season when trailing at the half.
No. 1 seed Florida will face third-seeded Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the SEC Tournament final in a nationally televised game on ABC.
Behind Marshall Henderson’s 23 points, Ole Miss defeated Vanderbilt 64-52 on Saturday to advance to the final. The Gators beat the Rebels 78-64 in the O’Connell Center on Feb. 2.
The Gators have not won an SEC Tournament title since 2007.
A television broadcast contributed to this report.
Kenny Boynton attempts a shot over the outstretched arm of an Alabama defender. Boynton ranks No. 2 on Florida's all-time scoring list.
