Live blog: No. 4 Florida beats No. 8 Tennessee in SEC Tourney finals, 86-77

For only the fifth time in program history, the Florida Gators are the SEC Tournament champs.

UF, ranked No. 4, beat No. 8 Tennessee 86-77 on Sunday in Nashville, Tn. in the conference tourney finals. They faced each other twice in the regular season and neither game was close. Florida won 73-43 on Jan. 7 in Gainesville. Four weeks later, Tennessee beat UF in Knoxville, 64-44.

In the rubber match, it was all Gators. Five Florida players scored in double-figures Sunday, let by guard Walter Clayton, who had 22. Another Gators guard, Will Richard, scored 17. Meanwhile, Florida dominated on the boards, finishing with a 39-25 edge.

This was Florida’s first conference tourney championship since 2014.

The Gators almost certainly will be a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament when the brackets are revealed later Sunday. They’re now 30-4. Meanwhile, the Vols are 27-7.

You can join the discussion on Swamp Talk, our message board community at Gators Online.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 78, Tennessee 66 (03:34)

Gators Guard Walter Clayton got hot at the right time. He has made some big shots down the stretch and now has a team-high 20 points with four made 3-pointers. A big story Sunday is Florida’s rebounding. The Gators hold a massive edge (37-22) on the boards.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 62, Tennessee 55 (8:47)

Florida seemingly had several chances to break things open but couldn’t get over the 13-point hump. Now, the Vols have clawed back into it thanks to an 8-0 run. Vols guard Jordan Gainey leads all players with 20 points. Meanwhile, the Gators have gone ice cold from the field. They’ve missed their last four shots and are only 6 of 20 from deep Sunday. Both teams will be in the double bonus the rest of the way.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 54, Tennessee 43 (11:56)

Going into the latest media timeout, four Florida starters were on the bench as Gators coach Todd Golden is trying to keep UF fresh for the final stretch. Florida continues to maintain a double-digit lead even though it isn’t shooting particularly well today. The Gators have outrebounded the Vols 28-19 and that has been significant.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 50, Tennessee 39 (14:38)

Florida is only 6 of 18 from 3-point range; the Vols also are 6 of 18. But the Gators are getting some juice inside and have 20 points in the paint. Florida guard Will Richard leads UF with 11 points. Guard Walter Clayton and forward Alex Condon have 10 each. Condon also has seven boards.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 39, Tennessee 30 (HALF)

The Gators led by as many as 12 in the opening half, but the Vols made a couple 3-pointers in the final two minutes to close the gap. Then, just like that, Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen nailed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer. Guard Will Richard leads Florida with 11 points. Florida has a 19-15 edge on the boards and is shooting a good bit better than the Vols (45.2 percent to 38.5). Guard Jordan Gainey has 10 points for Tennessee.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 32, Tennessee 22 (03:59)

The Vols have made only one of their last eight shots and are shooting 33.3 percent for the half. Florida guard Will Richard just hit his third 3-pointer and leads the Gators with 11 points. Guard Jordan Gainey has 10 for Tennessee. UF holds a 17-13 advantage on the glass.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 29, Tennessee 20 (05:56)

After a layup from Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen, Tennessee called timeout. The Gators have their largest lead.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 25, Tennessee 17 (07:09)

A 3-pointer from Florida guard Will Richard, who has a team-high eight points, has given the Gators their biggest lead of the game. Florida has started to assert itself inside and holds a 15-10 advantage in rebounds. Forward Alex Condon has six of them. The fouls have started to add up and both teams are in the bonus. UF center Rueben Chinyelu has two of them. Two Tennessee starters have two fouls each.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 16, Tennessee 14 (11:51)

Neither team is shooting particularly well from the field but the Vols have made four 3-pointers and UF has connected on two of them. Guard Walter Clayton leads Florida with five points. The Gators have only four points in the paint thus far. Meanwhile, Tennessee is out rebounding UF 8-7. Jordan Gainey, a guard, is the Vols’ top scorer with five points.

SCORE UPDATE: Florida 10, Tennessee 6 (15:31)

The Gators fell behind 6-3 but have responded with a 7-0 run as the Vols have missed five straight shots. Florida guards Walter Clayton and Will Richard have each made 3-pointers. The Gators hold an early 5-4 edge on the glass.

Florida Gators projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
1	Walter Clayton Jr.	Guard	6-2, 195 pounds	Sr.	32.3	17.4	3.7	4.4 ast
15	Alijah Martin	Guard	6-2, 210 pounds	Gr.	30.0	14.6	4.6	2.4 ast
5	Will Richard	Guard	6-4, 206 pounds	Sr.	31.5	13.5	4.6	1.7 stl
21	Alex Condon	Forward	6-11, 230 pounds	So.	25.0	11.2	7.9	2.3 ast
9	Rueben Chinyelu	Center	6-10, 260 pounds	So.	19.4	6.0	6.4	1.0 blk

Tennessee Volunteers projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
5	Zakai Zeigler	Guard	5-9, 172 pounds	Sr.	33.8	13.5	3.0	7.3 ast
15	Jahmai Mashak	Guard	6-4, 202 pounds	Sr.	28.3	6.2	4.2	1.6 stl
2	Chaz Lanier	Guard	6-6, 192 pounds	5th	31.3	17.9	3.8	3.3 3fg
7	Igor Milicic Jr.	Forward	6-10, 225 pounds	Sr.	26.2	10.2	7.1	2.1 ast
34	Felix Okpara	Forward	6-11, 235 pounds	Jr.	25.3	7.3	6.3	1.7 blk