Alabama dominated by Florida in SEC Tournament semifinals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 5 Alabama’s SEC Tournament run came to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling at the hands of No. 4 Florida by a final score of 104-82 in the semifinal round of the tournament.

Alabama went with its typical starters, rolling out Labaron Philon, Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi to begin the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Just like the quarterfinal against Kentucky, this game got out to a really fun up-and-down pace early on. At the first media timeout Alabama held a slim 12-11 lead, getting some great production early from Nelson. He made an impact with seemingly everything he did, scoring five points, grabbing two rebounds and dishing one assists in the first few minutes of the game.

The pace continued to excite well into the first half. Alabama go some nice production from Jarin Stevenson, who came off the bench and kept up his improved play as of late with a made 3-pointer and an and-one finish inside.

The Tide got a big boost right before the under-12 timeout with a possession that featured two separate Mo Dioubate offensive rebounds and ended with an Aden Holloway three, giving Alabama a 25-22 lead.

The next four minutes got the fans on their feet, with each team trading some big-time highlight dunks. Nelson had a particularly exciting one, throwing it down over a Florida defender emphatically, getting a verbal reaction from even the neutral fans in the crowd.

Nelson came up hobbled towards the end of the first half, and had to go back to the locker room with 3:40 remaining in the first half. When he left the game, Alabama held a 42-41 lead.

Florida got enough going offensively to take a 47-45 lead into halftime. The Crimson Tide didn’t get near its typical production from its guards in the first half, with Philon being held scoreless and Sears going 0-of-4 from deep over the first 20 minutes.

Florida came out in the second half with some fire, and with Alabama having to play without Nelson, the Gators took control. Florida outscored Alabama 15-5 over the first five minutes of the second half, taking a 12-point lead into the first media timeout after halftime.

The Gators kept things rolling offensively, pushing the lead even more over the next four minutes. At the under-12 Florida held a commanding 73-57 lead, with the 16-point margin being the largest Alabama had faced in the game to that point.

As if it couldn’t get bad enough, Florida nailed a three right around midway through the second half to cap a 7-0 run and extend the lead to 21 points. The Gators were outscoring Alabama 33-14 in the second half at that point, taking advantage of a poor game from Alabama’s guards and a subpar rebounding effort from the bigs.

Once the lead got out to 20, it was effectively over. The teams traded shots back and forth as the game drew to a close, but Alabama never threatened the lead.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Chris Youngblood — 14 points

Jarin Stevenson — 10 points, 5 rebounds

Mo Dioubate — 12 points, 12 rebounds

WHAT’S NEXT

Alabama now awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding an opponent, which will be revealed during the selection show tomorrow night. The show will begin at 5 p.m. CT on CBS.

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