After falling 66-63 to Ole Miss on Sunday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final, Florida will travel to Austin, Texas, for the NCAA Tournament.
UF earned a No. 3 seed in the South Region and will play a second-round game against No. 14 seed Northwestern State, the Southland Conference Tournament champions, on Friday in Frank Erwin Center.
If Florida advances, it will face either No. 6 seed UCLA or No. 11 seed Minnesota on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Louisville, Indiana, Gonzaga and Kansas earned the four No. 1 seeds. The Jayhawks, No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 4 seed Michigan share third-seeded Florida’s region.
Missouri (No. 9 seed) and Ole Miss (No. 12 seed) were the only other teams from the SEC to make the Big Dance.
A win Sunday against the Rebels (26-8, 12-6 SEC) could have helped the Gators’ case for a No. 2 seed.
UF (26-7, 14-4 SEC) had two opportunities late to tie the score. After guard Mike Rosario’s layup cut the Rebels’ lead to two with 36 seconds left, point guard Scottie Wilbekin stripped the ball from Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson in the full-court press and forward Casey Prather landed on it.
Following a timeout called by coach Billy Donovan, Rosario found Erik Murphy on the block.
But the senior forward’s hook shot clanked off the right side of the rim.
With 8.6 seconds left, Florida fouled Ole Miss forward Murphy Holloway, who made his first free throw but couldn’t convert on the second.
Following Murphy’s rebound, Wilbekin was fouled with 4.2 seconds remaining before he could launch a three-point attempt.
In a double-bonus situation, Wilbekin missed his first free throw and intentionally missed his second. Center Patric Young then successfully tipped the ball out to guard Kenny Boynton on the right wing.
But Boynton’s contested, off-balance three rimmed out as Henderson and Ole Miss celebrated midcourt.
“I tried to run towards the ball and get the ball before Ole Miss got it,” Boynton said.
“I kind of rushed it, because I was trying to back up and make sure it was a three-point shot before the time ran out.”
Added Donovan: “Patric made a great effort to keep it alive on the second miss. Kenny didn’t have a great look, but at least we had a shot up there to try to tie it.”
Florida led 38-26 at halftime after shooting 7 of 14 from behind the arc, but Ole Miss opened the first 8:45 of the second half on a 26-8 run.
“As a team we didn’t respond early in the first four minutes,” Rosario said.
“We gave the momentum, and I felt that they took that momentum in a positive way and just gave their team a lot of energy in the second half.”
Florida eventually worked its way back into the game but couldn’t succeed from the charity stripe. The Gators missed six free throws in the final 5 minutes as Young went 1 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Each of Florida’s three seniors had a dominant performance during the weekend.
In UF’s 80-58 victory against LSU on Friday in the quarterfinals, Murphy recorded a career-best 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting and 12 rebounds.
Boynton scored 16 points in the second half against Alabama to rally to a 61-51 semifinal victory on Saturday. In Florida’s loss Sunday, Rosario scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Holloway scored 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting Sunday, while Henderson notched 21 points.
The SEC Tournament win is Ole Miss’ first since 1981. The Gators have not won an SEC Tournament title since 2007.
Heading into the Big Dance, the Gators are 0-6 this year in games decided by six points or fewer and 25-1 in games decided by 11 points or more.
“The people trying to create this drama like our guys have lost confidence,” Donovan said. “Our guys haven’t lost confidence at all. They dug themselves a hole with our lack of defense.”
Said Rosario: “The best thing about this next tournament that’s coming up, NCAA Tournament, is the fact that as a team, we’ve been in every tight situation possible this year. That’s the beauty of it, because now we know what to expect.”
Senior guard Kenny Boynton (1) takes it to the basket during Florida’s 66-63 loss to Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament final on March 17 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Boynton and the Gators have lost in the Elite Eight each of the last two years.
