After Florida fell behind 45-37 to Alabama with 12:23 remaining, forward Casey Prather sparked the Gators.
Prather’s free throw shooting, rebounding and drawn charges down the stretch helped No. 8 Florida (23-5, 13-3 Southeastern Conference) finish the game on a 27-7 run and defeat Alabama (19-10, 11-5 SEC) 64-52 on Saturday afternoon in the O’Connell Center.
“There wasn’t a panic,” Prather said. “We knew we had to persevere and fight through, so we just came together as a team.”
Florida clinched at least a share of the SEC regular-season title when Kentucky (20-9, 11-5 SEC) lost at Arkansas on Saturday.
Prather went 4 of 4 from the charity stripe and grabbed five boards in the game’s final 12 minutes. The junior forward’s effort helped Florida outrebound Alabama 13-5 during that stretch.
Prather also drew two key charges during UF’s run.
In 24 minutes off the bench, Prather scored 10 points and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
“He was the only guy who had a level of energy,” coach Billy Donovan said.
Alabama opened second half with a 19-8 run — including four layups from Tide point guard Trevor Releford — to take a 45-37 lead. But after its run, Alabama scored only two points during a 9-minute stretch.
“Whether or not we scored on the next possession, we kept getting stops,” guard Kenny Boynton said.
Florida wrapped up the game when Boynton drove coast to coast for a layup, putting UF ahead 60-50 with 44 seconds left. On the next possession, point guard Scottie Wilbekin stole the ball from Releford and took it the other way for a wide-open fastbreak score.
Florida made all 13 of its free throw attempts in the second half.
Forward Erik Murphy scored a game-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Murphy scored 7 of Florida’s first 9 points, exploiting Alabama’s four-guard starting lineup.
Boynton scored 11 points to move up to No. 2 on UF’s all-time scoring list. Boytnon (1,940 points) passed Andrew Moten (1,930) and now only trails Ronnie Williams (2,090).
Mike Rosario was on the bench during a 10-minute stretch in the second half when Florida made its run. Rosario, who went 2-of-7 shooting for 6 points, made a handful of mistakes including an errant one-handed pass intended for Boynton that sailed out of bounds early in the second.
“I don’t know why he would do something like that,” Donovan said. “Just make the simple, normal, right play. To try to be cute, throw a one-handed pass with an SEC championship on the line? Like, you have to sit down.”
Alabama shot 40 percent from the field, while Florida went 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.
Donovan wasn’t happy with UF’s ball movement, as the Gators tallied only seven assists. “We are not a good team unless you starting seeing our basketball team between like 17 and 23 or 24 assists,” Donovan said. “We don’t have players that can make plays on their own. … They need to rely and utilize each other.”
Saturday also marked the return of forward Will Yeguete (right knee) and guard Michael Frazier II (concussion, back spasms). Yeguete and Frazier checked in with 12:42 in the first half and went scoreless for the contest. Yeguete logged 11 minutes, while Frazier missed a shot and two free throws in six minutes.
“I couldn’t get anything out of Frazier at all,” Donovan said. “Yeguete tells me after the game he was absolutely petrified going in there. You have all this stuff going on around our team with people saying, ‘Oh, they’re back. They’re back.’ They’re not back. It’s going to be a long process.
Yeguete had missed the previous six games, while Frazier sat out for Florida’s 64-58 loss to Tennessee on Tuesday.
UF is 14-0 at home this season. Florida will win the SEC outright if it defeats Vanderbilt on Wednesday in its final game in the O’Connell Center.
Casey Prather (24) attempts a shot while being contested by two Alabama defenders during Florida's 64-52 victory in the O'Connell Center. Prather had 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Coach Billy Donovan walks off the court following Florida's 64-52 defeat of Alabama in the O'Connell Center on Saturday. Donovan expressed his displeasure in the team's performance despite the win.
Kenny Boynton attempts a shot over the outstretched arm of an Alabama defender. Boynton ranks No. 2 on Florida's all-time scoring list.
