FINAL: Florida 102, No. 19 Alabama 88

What Happened

Florida junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and joined his team in doing a role reversal on one of the best offenses in the country Friday night, as the sixth-seeded Gators blew past third-seeded and 19th-ranked Alabama for a 102-88 upset victory in their quarterfinal showdown at the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The win, UF's third over the previous four games and second against the Crimson Tide in that span, moved the Gators into the tournament semifinals for the first time in five years. Clayton, who was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, led five Gators into double-figure scoring. All-SEC grad point guard Zyon Pullin, a night after fouling out in UF's second-round triumph over Georgia, had 19 points and was 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. Grad-forward Tyrese Samuel had 18 points, four rebounds and two blocks, backup freshman forward Alex Condon scored 12 off the bench and went 5-for-6 from the floor, while junior wing Will Richard threw in 10 points. The Tide scored the game's first eight points, forcing UF coach Todd Golden to call an early timeout to stop the bleeding. The Gators settled down, worked themselves back into the game, tying the score at 17, falling back again by four a few times, but then taking off on devastating 21-2 run (including 17 straight) that featured only two 3s. Bama, meanwhile, missed nine of its final 10 shots of the half to trail 48-33 at the break. The Gators, after missing their first four shots of the game, hit 50 percent for the half, 10 of 12 from the free-throw line and won the glass 22-18, with Condon and freshman best buddy Thomas Haugh manning the UF front court throughout the dominant run. Not five minutes into the second half, the UF lead was 21 and Samuel was having his way in the post with eight early points in the period, with the margin ballooning to as high as 24 a couple times, the last with just under eight minutes remaining. Alabama tried chipping away, with All-SEC guard Mark Sears scoring 18 of his 22 in the second half, but it was too little and way too late. The Tide scored 55 second-half points, but the Gators scored 54 on the way to setting the program's single-game record for points in a SEC Tournament game. Florida shot 50.8 percent overall, hit just seven of 20 from deep, but closed the game by going 21-for-24 from the free-throw line in the second half, a performance that came barely 24 hours after a 23-for-41 mishap from the line in their 85-80 second-round win over Georgia.

UF freshman forward **Alex Condon** (21) takes advantage of a mismatch in the post against Bama guard **Mark Sears** during Friday night's action.

What it Means

Consider the humbling loss last weekend at Vanderbilt erased. This latest Quadrant 1 victory, the team's fifth in 13 opportunities, very well could move the Gators back to the No. 6 seed line for the NCAA Tournament, a place they likely were hovering before the regular season-ending setback to the Commodores, but that's a conversation for Sunday night. As for the here and now, UF is headed to the SEC semifinals for the first time since 2019 and for only the second time since winning the tournament in 2014 on the way to the Final Four. Read on.

In the Spotlight

The rookie duo of Condon and Haugh -- not so much with their numbers, but certainly with their energy and defense -- completely changed the complexion of the game. Condon was a plus-22 in his first-half 10 minutes and Haugh a plus-17 in his 11, setting in motion the 15-point lead at intermission.

Staggering Statistic

The No. 1, 2 and 3 tournament seeds (Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, respectively) all went down Friday. It's the first time since 1983 (that would be 41 years) that three of the top four seeds were whacked in their openers. Broadway will be flooded with tickets over the weekend, especially from frustrated Big Blue Nation and disappointed home state Volunteers fans. No. 4-seed and 12th-ranked Auburn (25-7), which faces No. 9-seed Mississippi State (21-12) in Saturday's first semifinal, is the lone team alive from the four that earned double byes into the quarters.

Up Next

Florida (23-10) will take on No. 7-seed Texas A&M (20-13), which not only shocked second-seeded and ninth-ranked Kentucky 97-87 in their quarterfinal match-up earlier Friday night, but almost certainly locked up a NCAA at-large berth in the process. The Aggies, who defeated the Gators 67-66 at College Station in their lone '23-24 meeting on Feb. 3, lead the SEC in Quad 1 wins with six, plus another seven Quad 2 victories. UF has lost five in a row against A&M, dating to the 2022 season, all by a combined 10 points.

Gators Calendar