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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Florida Gators ruined the party. Then had a little party of their own on the Bridgestone Arena floor Sunday afternoon.
Todd Golden’s team celebrated an SEC tournament championship by cutting the nets, after beating Tennessee 86-77 in the title game — and sending an arena full of Tennessee fans home unhappy. It felt more like a practice session than a culmination. The Gators know, as anyone who has watched them lately can see, that they should require more ladders and scissors in the near future.
As has been noted a time or two, the SEC is historically good this season. Yet the Gators left the league’s conference tournament shorter on drama than expected because no one could hang with them. A huge Alabama contingent shuffled out quietly Saturday after Florida beat their team — their Final Four-capable team — 104-82. Missouri on Friday, like Tennessee on Sunday, fought valiantly but couldn’t put late-game pressure on Florida (30-4) and fell by 14.
Rick Barnes’ Vols (27-7) got a 13-point deficit as low as five in the final six minutes, carried by guards Zakai Zeigler (23 points, eight assists) and Jordan Gainey (24). But Florida always had answers. They usually originate with All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. (22 points), but fellow backcourt starters Alijah Martin and Will Richard can take over at any point. And then there’s the luxury of Denzel Aberdeen off the bench.
And then there’s all the size — Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten rotate seamlessly and give opponents matchup issues. If they aren’t intimidating enough, 7-foot-9, 305-pound redshirting freshman Olivier Rioux is sitting over there on the bench.
This team is top 10 nationally in offensive and defensive efficiency, per Kenpom.com, along with offensive rebounding percentage, opponent 3-point shooting and defensive effective field goal percentage. It does everything very well to incredibly well, other than a solid free throw percentage (71.1 percent) that ranked 225th nationally entering Sunday’s game — perhaps that could provide a glimmer of hope for opponents in the tournament to come.
Or maybe the Gators will build on a terrific Sunday in that regard — 25 for 28, 89.3 percent, at the line. This team, which looks as capable as any of winning six games in a row and the whole darn thing, had a productive day of practice in Nashville.
(Photo of Walter Clayton Jr: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
