Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points, and number four Florida pulled away from number five ranked Alabama for a 104-82 victory in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals. Alijah Martin and Will Richard each had 16 points for the 29-4 Gators in their fifth consecutive win. Next up for Florida is Sunday's SEC championship game against number eight Tennessee, which beat number three Auburn 70-65 in the first semifinal.
The second-seeded Gators led the Crimson Tide 47-45 after a first half that featured 10 lead changes. But Clayton and company really turned up their play down the stretch. Chris Youngblood had 14 points for third-seeded Alabama. The loss derailed the Crimson Tide's hope of winning the program's third SEC tournament title in the last five seasons. With 10 wins over AP Top 25 opponents this season, a program record for most in a single season, Alabama has a strong case for a good seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators were impressive in the defensive end, holding the high-scoring Crimson Tide to just 82 points. Entering Saturday, Alabama had scored 90 points or more in 18 games this season, the most in Division I. Richard hit a 3-pointer with 9:24 remaining in the second half to give Florida a 21-point lead and put the game out of reach for Alabama. After a tightly contested first half, Florida outscored the Crimson Tide 57-37 over the final 20 minutes.
Florida and Tennessee split the two-game season series, with both teams winning on their home courts. The Crimson Tide wait to learn the team's first opponent in the NCAA tourney.
