SEC Tournament Championship: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 4 Tennessee

by:Jack Pilgrim•about 11 hours

NCAA Basketball: Florida at Tennessee — Feb 1, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers forward Felix Okpara (34) rebounds the ball against the Florida Gators during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Florida did to Alabama what Alabama did to Kentucky, the No. 2 seed Gators pounding the No. 3 seed Crimson Tide into the dirt to earn a spot in the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday. That came after No. 4 seed Tennessee pulled off the upset to open the day in Nashville, defeating No. 1 seed Auburn to set up a battle between UF and UT with the title trophy on the line.

The Volunteers started the day with a 70-65 win over the Tigers, Zakai Zeigler leading the way with 20 points on 5-11 shooting and 9-9 at the line, followed by Jordan Gainey with 15 and Chaz Lanier with 12. Johni Broome went for 23 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort while Miles Kelly added 13 and Denver Jones put up 10 to round out double-figure scorers. UT shot 42.6 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three while AU went for 41.8 percent overall and 28.6 percent from deep. The difference? A 25-27 (92.6 percent) mark at the line for Rick Barnes’ squad compared to just 13-22 (59.1 percent) for Bruce Pearl’s.

on to the 'ship pic.twitter.com/bsNxEPTrbh
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 15, 2025

As for the second matchup at Bridgestone Arena, the Gators shot a blistering 51.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three with six different players scoring in double figures, led by Walter Clayton Jr. with 22 points, six assists and three steals. Will Richard and Alijah Martin added 16, followed by Thomas Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen with 11 and Ruben Chinyelu with 10. The Tide shot just 41.8 percent overall and 31.4 percent from deep, Chris Youngblood leading the way with 14, followed by Cliff Omoruyi and Mouhamed Dioubate with 12 and Jarin Stevenson with 10. Mark Sears and Labaron Philon combined for just 12 points on 4-19 shooting and 1-9 from three.