Gators win SEC Tournament title, secure No. 1 seed in NCAAs

A day after setting an SEC Tournament scoring record, No. 4 Florida got defensive to beat Tennessee in the title game and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.

Following a 86-77 win over the No. 8 Vols, the Gators (30-4) now aim to follow the path of the past conference tournament champions all the way to the Final Four, feat performed in 2006, 2007 and 2014, the first two times ending in national titles.

Todd Golden’s Gators, the school’s 30-game winner since the ’14 squad, scored 104 points Saturday to pull away for a 22-point win against Alabama. On Sunday in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Florida would have to change styles to defeat the league’s top defensive team in front of a partisan crowd and avenge last season’s one-sided SEC title game loss Auburn.

“It just shows the growth we’ve had,” Golden said after the win. “They deserve this.”

The Gators’ effort and grit set the tone as they built a 32-20 lead on a 3-pointer by Will Richard a little less than 15 minutes into the game. Tennessee would cut the lead in half, but a 3-pointer by Orlando’s Denzel Aberdeen with a second remaining before halftime pushed the lead to 39-30.

UF controlled the second half from the jump, pushing the lead to 13 points seven different times.

But the Vols rallied behind senior shooting guard Jordan Gainey, who finished with a season-high 24 points to lead all scorers. Tennessee leading scorer Chaz Lanier fouled out with just 11 points.

A Gainey 3, followed by three-point play on a driving layup while drawing on Will Richard, cut UF’s advantage to 60-53. Two free throws by Gainey following a steal by SEC Defensive Player of the Year Zakai Zeigler made it 60-55.

The stage was set for a dramatic finish between teams that split two regular-season seasons by lopsided margins, UF by 30 points (73-43) Jan. 7 in Gainesville and Tennessee by 20 (64-44) Feb. 1 in Knoxville.

The Vols, however, could get no closer.

Florida seized control on a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by sophomore sixth man Tommy Haugh to extend the lead to 76-64 with 4:42 to go.

Haugh finished with 11 points and 6 rebonds in 18 minutes as five Gators reached double-figures led by Clayton’s 22 points as the senior from Lake Wales earned tournament MVP honors. Richard, who made the All-Tournament team, had 17 points while power forward Alex Condon had 13 and 9 to lead UF to a 39-25 advantage on the backboard and finish one shy of his eight double-double this season.

“We have a really deep team,” Golden said. “No one lets the bar drop. It gives us a chance to make a deep run in March.

“I think we’re just getting started.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.

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