TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Defensively, Florida had fared about as well it could against the No. 1-rated offense and one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country. Alabama had just two 3-pointers at halftime and had not even attempted one deep into the second half as the Gators were on their way to building a 10-point lead.
But the Crimson Tide, missing one of their top 3-point shooting threats, found other avenues to score, opting to play bigger than usual, crashing the glass and working the paint for some buckets to keep within striking distance in the event the long-distance tide ever turned in their favor.
Which it did.
Indeed, 13th-ranked Bama hit five timely 3s over the final 11 minutes of regulation to help force overtime, then another early in the extra period, and put enough distance between themselves and the 24th-ranked Gators to finish off a 98-93 win and remain atop the Southeastern Conference standings in command in their quest for a second straight league championship.
UF (18-8, 8-5), in losing for just the second time in nine games, had a chance at the end when, trailing 94-93, the Gators forced a missed long jumper, but Alabama guard Aaron Estrada was there for the offensive rebound and putback basket with seven seconds to go. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who led all scorers with 27 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists, misfired on a game-tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds, with Tide guard Mark Sears hitting a couple free throws with a half-second remaining to wrap matters.
Forward Grant Nelson, the transfer from North Dakota State, led a half-dozen Alabama players into double-figure scoring with 22 points to go with eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Despite the loss, UF, which was playing its first game as a ranked team since December 2021, remained in a tie for fifth place with Kentucky in the SEC standings and still very much in place for a top-four seed and double-bye in the conference tournament next month.
"Obviously, a disappointing result for us," UF coach Todd Golden said after going toe-to-toe with an offensive juggernaut. "For the majority of the game, we played pretty well. To come in here against a top-five team analytically and to be in the lead for 30 minutes, I think, says a lot about the growth of our program and where we've come over the last couple months. We're playing like one of the best teams in America right now."
UF freshman centerAlex Condon (left) tries to wall up on Bama forward Grant Nelson, who led the Crimson Tide with 22 points.
Alabama (19-7, 11-2), winners of three straight and unbeaten in the SEC at home the last two seasons, is one of the best teams in the country and proved it by nearly hitting triple digits without guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who suffered a head injury at practice earlier in the week and was a game-day scratch. Wrightsell was shooting 44.5 percent from 3 and was 27-for-27 from the free-throw line on the season.
Helping fill his void was by backup 6-foot-10 forward Sam Walters, the Florida product (by way of The Villages) who came off the bench to score 14 points, dropping four 3-pointers, including 3 huge ones in the Tide's late rally. Each of his second-half bombs came when the Gators appeared on the verge of distancing themselves enough to get out of Coleman with an upset.
"I had to step up," Walters said.
UF led by eight when Walters hit his first with 11 minutes to go. The margin was eight when he nailed his second just 30 seconds later. And it was nine with just over six minutes to play when he buried the third, which turned out to be the first bucket of a 10-0 spurt that ended with a go-ahead 3 by Sears, the league scoring leader and SEC Player of the Year candidate, that gave Bama its first lead – at 77-76 with 4:05 to go – since early in the first half.
It was only a matter of time until that Tide run. Theirs is a team that scores in bunches, having hit 100 points each of the last two games (eight on the year) and 99 in four of the previous six.
"When you play these guys here you're going to have to live with something," Golden said. "You're not going to take everything away."
Over the final four minutes, the teams traded four lead changes and three ties, both missing shots to go in front in the final 15 seconds of regulation, with the extra period starting at 85-all.
In the OT, Alabama scored on its first three possessions, first on a driving layup by Estrada (20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), followed by a 3-pointer from Rylan Griffin (10 points, 6 rebounds), then a runner in the lane by Estrada to make it 92-85 just 75 seconds in.
The Gators, though, got four straight free throws from Clayton to draw within three and even following a huge stop on the defensive end, with Clayton taking off for a transition opportunity. But Sears, trailing the play, reached and swatted the ball away for a steal and Griffen knocked down two free throws with 1:14 to go to go back up by five.
Back came UF, with Clayton driving for a layup and, after a stop, freshman forward Alex Condon scoring in the post to close to 94-93 with 47 seconds remaining.
Guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) scored a game-high 27 points and center Micah Handlogten (right) had a game-high 13 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end.
That's when Griffen missed his late-shot 3 and Estrada was there to clean up the offensive rebound. His putback made it 96-93 with seven seconds to go and Clayton's desperation shot was off.
"We're figuring out ways to win games," Alabama coach Nate Oats said after his team won a third straight (its 28th in 29 home games the last two seasons) and maintained a one-game cushion in the SEC race. "If you're going to win league championships, which we're obviously in the hunt for with five games left, these are the games that you've got to figure out ways to win when you don't play well."
The Tide, which came in averaging 38.5 percent on the season from deep, shot just 11 percent (2-for-18) from the arc in the first half and trailed 41-37. In the second half, the Gators staved off charges by the Tide through the first nine minutes, with big buckets of their own. Some by point guard Zyon Pullin (17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists), some by Will Richard (17 points), some by forward Tyrese Samuel (14 points, 8 rebounds).
Florida, though, missed four of its last five 3-point tries over the final 10 minutes of the second period and all three in overtime. The Gators shot 43 percent for the game (to the Tide's 44), just 9-for-30 from distance (to Bama's 8-for-32) and got roughed up, 54-44, on the glass (21-17 on the offensive end), as Bama eschewed its four-game lineup and went uncharacteristically bigger to combat UF's size and offset the absence of Wrightsell. It was good enough to pummel UF In paint points 56-40.
Walters, in addition to his bombs, had three rebounds and a pair of blocks, while 6-11 backup forward Nick Pringle played a season-high 27 minutes and finished with 13 points and eight boards (three on the offense end) off the bench.
It was enough, but the Gators made them earn it.
"At the beginning of overtime, and we just weren't able to dig ourselves out of that hole. We got a couple looks to tie it, and I'm disappointed in the result, but I'm definitely not discouraged in our effort," Golden said. "As I told my team right before we came in here [for interviews], I'm excited to get back to work with them. I think we have a chance to have a really special end of the year. Even though we came up short tonight, I think our effort indicates that."