Live blog: Gators advance to SEC title with 95-90 win over A&M

Todd Golden and the Gators punched their ticket to the SEC Tournament Championship with a 95-90 win over Texas A&M in the semifinals Saturday. Florida rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit and was led by a career-high 20 points by Denzel Aberdeen off the bench.

Live updates (2H)

Final (Florida 95, Texas A&M 90): After being held scoreless in the last three minutes of their 67-66 loss at Texas A&M, the Gators also went the final 3:21 of this game without a field goal. However, they closed out the Aggies with nine free throws in the last two minutes.

Final media timeout (3:21): The Gators now have their first double-digit lead, 85-75, after Clayton’s dagger 3-pointer, his fifth of the game. Aberdeen is having a career day with 20 points, four 3s and four steals. It’s been 4:02 without an A&M field goal.

Third media timeout (7:37): The Gators pushed their lead to six points, but A&M battled back and tied the game at 70 with Taylor’s fifth 3-pointer of the game. He’s up to 23 points. Florida has five players in double figures for the third straight game.

Second media timeout (11:45): Florida is in front, 63-62, and took its first lead of the game on Clayton’s fourth 3-pointer of the game. Aberdeen, Clayton and Will Richard all have 12 points apiece, and the Gators have made seven of their last nine field goals.

First media timeout (15:45): The Gators have cut an eight-point halftime deficit to 54-52 with a pair of 3s by Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr., the latter marking their third straight field goal. The Aggies, meanwhile, have gone 3:06 without a field goal.

Live updates (1H)

Halftime (Texas A&M 50, Florida 42): The Gators trail by eight at the break after facing a 40-22 deficit with 5:22 left. Wade Taylor leads the Aggies with 20 points, including 4-for-7 from 3. Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen has a team-high 12 points. The rebounding battle was even in the first half, 18-all, but A&M had more points in the paint (20-10), points off turnovers (11-5) and second-chance points (10-4).

Final media timeout (0:25): The Gators have trimmed an 18-point deficit to six, 48-42, behind a 20-8 rally since the 5:10 mark, which started with a 11-2 run. It was sparked by 12 points off the bench from Aberdeen, who is 4-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-3 from downtown.

Third media timeout (3:34): Texas A&M built a double-digit lead, 42-29, with a pair of 6-0 and 7-0 runs and two scoring droughts by the Gators, who went 4:33 and 4:43 without a field goal. They made just one of eight field goal attempts during that second stretch before Denzel Aberdeen ended it with back-to-back buckets. Florida starting center Micah Handlogten picked up his third foul with 10:21 left.

Second media timeout (11:56): Texas A&M maintained a two-possession lead, 20-14, with a second-chance 3-pointer by Jace Carter. That was the third offensive rebound for the Aggies, who are winning the battle on the glass 10-6 and have 6 second-chance points. Florida has none.

First media timeout (14:44): Texas A&M jumped out to a 15-10 lead behind 11 points from Wade Taylor, who is 4-5 from the floor and 3-3 from downtown. The Aggies have the early edge with rebounds (6-4), points in the paint and (4-0) second-chance points (3-0). Walter Clayton Jr. has a pair of 3s early for the Gators.

Todd Golden halftime comments

Golden on the rally at the end of the first half:

“Just started guarding a little better and played the guys that were playing more physical and playing tougher, a little grittier. Obviously we didn’t defend well enough, gave up 50 points, but I thought we were on a better track the last four to six minutes.”

On what he wants to differently on offense in the second half: 

“I want to see some foul calls when we drive to the rim! I thought we were being pretty aggressive and not getting the same whistle on this end, but we can’t expect the officials to give us those. We gotta finish stronger. We gotta be strong with the ball and knock down some shots.”

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UF produced its highest-scoring SEC Tournament game in program history with Friday’s 102-88 win over Alabama in the quarterfinals. The Aggies advanced to Saturday with an 97-87 upset against Kentucky.

This is the second meeting of the year between Florida and Texas A&M. The Gators suffered a 67-66 loss in College Station on Feb. 3, snapping a four-game winning streak. Now they get a rematch in Nashville.

“It’s gonna be a quick turnaround,” Golden said of the semifinals matchup. “Not a lot of prep to be had, but A&M is a pretty distinct style. They play, you know, a certain way. And we know we’re gonna have to battle like heck on the boards and take care of the ball. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

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Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament

* All-Time Record: 48-52
* Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014)
* Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013)
* Florida reached the SEC Tournament semifinals on the power of its highest-scoring SEC Tournament game in program history, rolling up 102 points in Friday’s quarterfinal win over No. 18 Alabama. UF had never scored 100 points in regulation on a ranked opponent in program history until doing so twice vs. Alabama in the past two weeks.
* The Gators have a 10-8 record all-time in the SEC Tournament semifinal round.
* Florida has had five double-figure scorers in both SEC Tournament victories this week, and Walter Clayton Jr. led the group in both outings, posting 22 vs. Georgia and 23 vs. Alabama. UF is 9-2 this season when five players hit double figures.
*   Florida notched its first SEC Tournament win since 2021 with the victory over UGA and then beat Alabama to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2019.
*   The Gators’ last trip to the semis came when they knocked off top-seeded LSU in the quarterfinals on Andrew Nembhard’s buzzer-beater. Until this year, that marked UF’s lone semifinal appearance since winning the tournament in 2014.
* Texas A&M has taken both prior meetings in the SEC Tournament, including most recently an overtime win in Tampa in 2022.