Florida and Alabama basketball’s recent history has featured all kinds of high-scoring back-and-forth affairs. On Saturday, that same high-flying offensive action was on display – albeit in a somewhat more lopsided affair.
Much like last season, the two sides met for the opportunity to advance to the SEC Championship game. Last year’s contest went down to the wire, with Florida notching a surprising 104-82 victory. This time around, a massive second-half surge separated No. 4 UF from a prolific No. 5 Alabama team, which similarly has Final Four aspirations.
Florida (29-4, 15-4 SEC) used its efficient offense to dismantle Alabama (25-8, 13-5) 104-82 in the SEC Tournament semifinals in Nashville.
Florida faced an early 12-6 deficit less than three minutes into the game, with consecutive buckets coming from Alabama graduate student guard Mark Sears and graduate student forward Grant Nelson. From there, it was a sneak peek of the Florida offensive onslaught that awaited.
UF senior guard Clayton Jr. has been the blueprint for what head coach Todd Golden has wanted to build Florida’s program around since his arrival to Gainesville in 2022. He showed that when he pulled his squad back to just a one-point deficit four minutes in with his first of six 3-pointers on the day.
After four quick lead changes, Alabama sophomore guard Aden Holloway answered with a deep ball to give the Tide a 25–22 advantage near the midway point of the first half. A trio of Bama’ baskets in succession kept the Tide afloat midway through the first period.
The Gators then had a decision to make: let Alabama cruise to an SEC Championship game appearance, hoping for a No. 1 seed come Selection on Sunday, or fight back and take down the Tide. Florida ended up going with the latter.
A 10-2 surge, kickstarted by a tip-in layup from sophomore center Rueben Chineylu, clawed UF to a two-point deficit. Clayton Jr. went on to bury a timely three ball that put the Gators ahead 38-35 with under seven minutes before the break.
Bama answered with a quick 7-1 spurt of its own to take a three-point edge. But it was the Gators who held a narrow 2-point advantage going into halftime up 47-45.
An 11-3 run by Florida in less than three minutes (with senior guard Alijah Martin coming to life) and scoring five of those points allowed UF to gain the amount of breathing room it needed out of the half, holding a double-digit advantage.
Martin knocked down two free throws to stretch Florida’s lead to 14 points over five minutes into the second half. The Crimson Tide have been notorious for scoring quickly this season, though they did anything but that in the closing minutes of regulation.
It was all Gators from there. A made 3-pointer and a silky-smooth stepback 2-point jumper by senior guard Will Richard surged Florida ahead 84-61 before the Gators earned their largest lead of the game (24) with under a minute left in regulation.
Florida did a phenomenal job on Alabama’s first-team All-SEC guard Sears. UF held him to just nine points on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor, with an immense amount of pressure being applied on his ball-handling throughout the contest. The Tide entered the semifinal matchup averaging over 90 points per game, but were held to just 82 while shooting just 42% from the field and 11 of 25 (31%) from behind the arc.
Offensively, the Gators kept the Tide on their heels regarding who to zone in on defensively. Clayton Jr. posted a team-high 22 points, but he was far from the only Gators who played a role in hanging over 100 points on Alabama. Richard and Martin added 16 points apiece, and both shot over 50% from the field. Haugh, junior guard Denzel Aberdeen and sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu also tallied double figures with 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Given Bama’s No. 1 offense in the SEC, Florida entered less than six points per game behind. A massive part of UF’s offensive outing was powered by its 37 of 72 clip (51%) from the floor and a lethal 12 of 27 outing (44%) from distance.
Next, Florida will play its third game this season against Tennessee. However, this one will be in neutral territory – and for an SEC Tournament Championship. Tipoff between the Gators and Volunteers will be on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
