Gators close out the regular season by staking a claim for a No. 1 seed

Tommy Haugh dunks on Kentucky (UAA Communications Photo)

If Todd Golden were searching for ways to keep the Gators focused and motivated during the days leading up to their first game in the Southeastern Conference Tournament next Friday afternoon he found them in the final five minutes of Florida’s 84-77 win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

There wasn’t much to complain about those first 35 minutes when the Gators (25-6, 16-2 SEC) were in their search and destroy mode. The Gators made shots, they made the extra pass, they played smothering, dominating defense while toying with the Wildcats (19-12, 10-8 SEC) and making Senior Day look like a day to write off as one best forgotten.

The last five minutes, however, were a different story. Bad decisions, turnovers, ill-advised shots, too many fouls and far too many missed free throws turned a potential stomping into a near white knuckles finish for the 5^th-ranked Gators. Florida never once trailed Kentucky, but the Gators who finished the game looked nothing like the team that bore a strong resemblance to one that could repeat as NCAA champions earlier.

“I thought we played really well for about 35 minutes, and then down the stretch, I did not think we made enough winning plays,” Golden said after the Gators completed the SEC portion of the season as SEC champs, a full three games ahead of Alabama and Arkansas. “We were a little lackadaisical with the ball, allowed Kentucky to stay the game. Fortunately, it never got too, too tight, but that was a game we want to win by 15 or so. Allowed it to be single digits, but overall, we had a lot of great efforts.”

It was those great efforts that staked the Gators to an 11-0 lead right out of the gates and 49-32 at the half. It was great efforts that saw the Gators take a 68-48 lead with 9:43 left in the game when Rueben Chinyelu dropped in a pair of free throws. Florida had a 14-point (73-59) lead with 5:04 remaining when Alex Condon turned a Tommy Haugh pass into a banked-in jumper from just inside the 3-point line as the shot clock ran out.

Those Gators had the ESPN crew of Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Dick Vitale searching for adjectives to describe what was going on. They raved about the Gators unselfishness, their team speed, their strength in the paint, the way they disrupted every Kentucky player except Otega Oweh with their defense.

They changed their tune as Florida’s lead dwindled all the way down to five points (82-77) when former Gator Denzel Aberdeen made two of three from the foul line with 19.2 seconds remaining. That was as close as it got because Xaivian Lee made two of his four free throws in the last 17 seconds.

The ending wasn't a thing of beauty but the Gators had enough points to leave Lexington with a Senior Day win that will have the bracketologists moving them ahead of UConn as one of the four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament. UConn did the unthinkable Saturday by going belly up against Big East bottom feeder Marquette. Florida’s win improved the Gators to 12-5 in the all-important Quad 1 games while UConn dropped to 7-3.

The first half especially was a no doubter when it comes to playing the way a No. 1 seed ought to play. Kentucky is a quality team capable of making a run in both the SEC and NCAA tournaments but the Wildcats didn’t belong on the same floor with the Gators those first 20 minutes. Florida was too big, too fast, too strong and too unselfish.

In the first half the Gators made 18-28 of their shots (64.3 percent) and 6-10 from the 3-point line. Haugh scored 17 while hitting 3-5 from the 3-point line. He had three rebounds, two assists and a couple of steals. Condon scored seven, grabbed two rebounds, handed out two assists and added a steal. Lee had an impressive seven points, one rebound, four assists and no turnovers. Fland had five points and five assists. Chinyelu scored six and hauled in five rebounds.

Other than Oweh, who went off for 17 thanks in large part to 4-6 shooting from behind the 3-point line, the Gators turned Kentucky into such a below average first half team that Vitale was ripping the reported $22 million spent on NIL contracts.

“I think at $22 million they could have put together a better roster than they did,” Vitale said. “I really do.”

That $22 million roster made only 11-29 from the field in the first half and that included 4-13 on layups while spending the first 20 minutes looking like its tires were spinning in wet, red clay.

“I thought our guys did a really good job playing with great pace,” Golden said. “Tommy had a great first half, knocking down shots, getting to the rim. Condo did a great job playing out of the short role. Boog (Boogie Fland) and Xaivian did a really good job organizing us, handling their pressure and I thought we did a good job for the first 10 minutes or so of the second half also. Again, they turned up their pressure. They had to, and I didn’t think we were physical enough in terms of handling that, but overall, we’ll take it.”

It carried over into the second half when the Gators hit the accelerator at both ends of the court. When Florida is playing with this intensity defensively and moving the ball unselfishly for open shots both in the paint and on the perimeter, the Gators are a very difficult team to deal with. It was all about layups, dunks and open threes.

However, when the Gators are doing things like going 4-10 at the foul line or taking threes when the situation calls for continuing to pound the ball inside to foul out Kentucky’s big guys, they can make things rather interesting. Kentucky fouled away in the last five minutes and rather than make the Wildcats pay, the Gators struggled at the line. Kentucky, meanwhile heated up and started making shots a teensy bit too late.

With the Big Blue Nation on its feet believing an upset was imminent, Fland knocked down four straight free throws. There were also a couple of fortunate no-calls by the zebra crew of Joe Lindsey, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal and Jeb Harness that helped cool down Kentucky in the final minute. When the clock flatlined at 00:00, the Gators were fortunate winners and Golden had all he needs to put the Gators through the paces in the next three practice days before heading to Nashville. There will be hard practices, plenty of film study and a re-focus mentally in the days ahead as the Gators work to sustain their momentum.

“We’ve won 16 out of our last 17, and went 8-1 on the road in this league, which is absurd,” Golden said. “It’s the best league in America and our team has really come together and started playing some really great basketball. I think the great thing is, also, we've got a lot we can teach off of after this game tonight, in regards to the way we finish. We gotta finish stronger than that.”

Finishing stronger is certainly a necessity, but regardless of the final margin this will go down as a quality win on the road, one that should move the Gators off the No. 2 line in NCAA brackets.

“I feel like we did what we had needed to do over the last month …” Golden said. “UConn lost today, we won. I think we’re trending to get that last one seed if we go to Nashville and play well, but we still got a lot left before the NCAA tournament. We gotta make sure we finish strong.”

Game notes: Five Gators scored in double figures led by Haugh, who scored 20 in addition to nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fland had 16 points, two rebounds, six assists and a steal; Condon had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals; Chinyelu had 12 points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot; and Lee had 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and only one turnover ... The Gators had 24 assists on 28 made shots ... The Gators went 8-18 from the 3-point line. During Florida's 11-game winning streak, the Gators are 93-229 from three (40.6 percent). In Florida's last five games, the Gators have shot 43-99 of their 3-pointers ... Urban Klavzar has hit at least one 3-pointer in 21 straight games ... Chinyelu has 363 rebounds this season, the third best single season total in UF history, trailing only Neal Walk who had 494 in 1968 and 481 in 1969.  

ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC

No. 16 Alabama (23-8, 13-5 SEC) 96, Auburn (16-15, 7-11 SEC) 84: Alabama outscored Auburn 58-32 in the paint while securing the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament. Labaron Philon Jr. and Aden Holloway each scored 21 points as Bama raced out to a 50-31 lead at the half. Kevin Overton scored 24 for Auburn which was outrebounded 42-28.

No. 20 Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) 88, Missouri (20-11, 10-8 SEC) 84, OT: Already shorthanded Arkansas played without leading scorer Darius Acuff Jr., out with a sprained ankle, but the Razorbacks still found a way to win on the road at Missouri to give John Calipari his 900^th career victory. Meleek Thomas picked up the slack for Acuff, hitting 5-6 from the 3-point line as part of a 28-point effort. Trevon Brazille, who had two critical threes, added 19 points and nine rebounds for Arkansas. Missouri’s Mark Mitchell scored 32.

No. 24 Vanderbilt (24-7, 11-7 SEC) 86, No. 23 Tennessee (21-10, 11-7 SEC) 82: Vanderbilt jumped out to a 15-2 lead and never trailed while knocking the Vols out of the No. 4 seed at the SEC Tournament. The Vols played once again without Nate Ament, held out once again because of a high ankle sprain. Vandy dominated the paint and took only 10 threes the entire game (made five). Tennessee, meanwhile was 6-24. Tyler Tanner led the scoring for Vanderbilt with 25 points while the Vols were led by freshman Amari Evans, who scored 24. 

Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) 94, LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC) 91, 3OT: The Aggies need three overtimes to put away LSU, which finished dead last in the SEC. Rashaun Agee had 26 points and 11 rebounds for A&M while Rylan Griffen had 24. Max Mackinnon scored 20 to lead LSU, which will have to win two games in Nashville to be assured of a non-losing season.

Georgia (22-9, 10-8 SEC) 102, Mississippi State (13-18, 5-13 SEC) 96: Georgia made 17-29 of its 3-point attempts, rallying from a halftime deficit to win its fourth game in the last five. Kanon Catchings, who led Georgia with 23 points made 5-7 from three to go with six rebounds. Josh Hubbard hit 7-15 from three for Georgia, finishing with 42 points, his second SEC +40 game this season. 

Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 SEC) 88, Texas (18-13, 9-9 SEC) 85, OT: Oklahoma took care of business, winning its fourth straight game in overtime to knock off Texas in Austin. Nijel Pack scored 23 for Oklahoma which withstood a 30-point barrage by the Longhorns Jordan Pope.

South Carolina (13-18, 4-14 SEC) 64, Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14 SEC) 61: Meechie Johnson’s buzzer-beater three lifted South Carolina over Ole Miss. The win broke a three-game losing streak for the Gamecocks while Ole Miss lost its 14^th game in the last 15. Johnson was South Carolina’s leading scorer with 17 points while Malik Dia led Ole Miss with 22.

SEC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 11

1. No. 9 Kentucky (19-12, 10-8 SEC) vs. No. 16 LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC)

2. No. 12 Auburn (16-15, 7-11 SEC) vs. No. 13 Mississippi State (13-18, 5-13 SEC)

3. No. 10 Texas (18-13, 9-9 SEC) vs. No. 15. Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14 SEC)

4. No. 11 Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 SEC) vs. No. 14 South Carolina (13-18, 4-14 SEC)

Thursday, March 12

5. No. 8 Missouri (20-11, 10-8 SEC) vs. Winner game 1

6. No. 5 Tennessee (21-10, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 2

7. No. 7 Georgia (22-9, 10-8 SEC) vs. Winner game 3

8. No. 6 Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 4

Friday, March 13 (Quarterfinals)

9. No. 1 FLORIDA (25-6, 16-2) vs. Winner game 5

10. No. 4 Vanderbilt (24-7, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 6

11. No. 2 Alabama (23-8, 13-5 SEC) vs. Winner game 7

12. No. 3 Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) vs. Winner game 8

Saturday, March 14 (Semifinals)

13. Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

14. Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner

Sunday, March 15

Championship game