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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – He had yet to take his turn to climb the post-game ladder for a ritual net cut. Walter Clayton Jr. ecstatically snuggled his teammates, stuffed himself with selfies and eventually handed over scissors to enlarge the steps of clipping souvenirs from above the Bridestain Arena floor.
When he finished, Florida Point Guard, First Team All-American, Alpha men, Stone-Cold Court Killer jumped out of the ladder and uttered four words that are sure to be music in the ears of Music City and all the Gator fans beyond.
“Six more,” Clayton declared to the listener.
It’s a conversation from another day. Mondays and Tuesdays and every week, for the rest of the week, the Western Region No. 1 seed Gators (30-4) prepare to play Norfolk State (24-10) in the first round of Friday’s NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina.
But it was Sunday afternoon at the courthouse mid-confetti and then at the joyous, relaxed flight home that followed, to celebrate the 86-77 victory over sixth place Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship Game. Clayton was once again the headliner, scoring 22 points, draining four three-pointers, several daggers, leading four other teammates to double figure scoring. But in line with UF’s season-long theme, this was another incredible all-around team victory, pulling away in front of a dominant crowd by hostile big oranges who can’t break Florida’s unbreakable, unflapping, unoppressed boy.
“We are incredibly proud of our program,” UF coach Todd Golden said after becoming the second coach in UF history (joining Hall of Fame Billy Donovan) to lead his team to the SEC tournament title. “They’ve been doing incredible work throughout the year, just not selfish and not selfish. We knew we had really good talent early this year, but what separates us is our selfishness, our willingness to put the greater benefits of our program ahead of us.”
It was on display using hardware on the line. Clayton’s outstanding senior perimeter fellow Will Richard and Aliya Martin scored 17 and 10 points respectively. Sophomore forward Alex Condon scored 13 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Thomas Howe came off the bench to score 11 points and grabbed six boards, including five on the offensive. UF Outrebound Tennessee, 39-25, 39-25, including 15-5 in the offensive end, was not merciless by the famous physical style of the volunteers or partisan homecloud.
Tennessee coach Rick Burns was impressed
“I think they have the best frontlines in college basketball,” he said. “You see their depth. Not a lot of teams have it. They use it well. I think they really understand what they need to do and how they need to play. They have experience, but they have quality depth.
They only shot 42.6% against the SEC’s top-rate defense (third best in the country), but the Gators attacked volunteers (27-7) with paint, attacking key UT players in foul trouble, taking the free throw line 28 times, where they scored 89.3%. The Gators were well protected (44.9%) and withstanded UT’s equally strong shooting on the free throw line (21 out of 25 after halftime). Good kind.
UF is currently hosting a 5-second tournament championship (2005-07, ’14, ’25), winning the first basketball title of all sorts since Patrick’s Young-led crew, Scotty Wilbekin, won the conference regular season and tournament 11 years ago towards the Final Four.
This group desperately wants to get there. That trend line is noteworthy.
Two years ago, Golden first came on the UF sideline, and the Gators finished 16-17 and ended the SEC tournament after one game, settling on a national invitation bid. Last year, Florida reached the SEC Tournament Championship, 24-12, but then threw Auburn into the drums and knocked out the NCAA Tournament in the first round. However, at ’24-25, Golden’s third version of Gators took part in NCAA play more than all teams except one team in the history of the program (2014).
And the seniors led the way.
“What makes it special is the journey from my first year and coaching to what we can do now,” said Richard, the first player to commit to Golden, an unknown coach at San Francisco in 2022. “That’s a testament to all the work we’ve put in. It’s good to see it happen…and we know we still have more balls to play.”
They wanted to embark on the next championship quest in which this SEC is hidden, but they had to deal with some dangerous moments to make it happen. It should be.
It was the third meeting between the two teams. The first came on January 7th when Vols came to Gainesville and ranked number one in the nation. They left a 73-43 blow-off loss that marked the largest margin of defeat for a team that ranked number one in the Associated Press poll since 1968. The second meeting was in Knoxville on February 1st.
This was a tiebreaker and an otherwise neutral site. Currently six straight winners of the last 13, the Gators have come to a challenge against the Vols’ elite defense, who has broken through the league with points per game (62.3), opponent’s field goal percentage (38.0), and three-point percentage (28.0).
They broke 16 games with a 16-4 run late in the first half to bring them up 12. UT cut the margin in half, but Gators junior guard Denzel Aberdeen (9 points) dropped three pointers from about 25 feet on the half-time buzzer and sent the team into the locker room 39-30.
The lead was seven seconds into the second half, when Clayton hit a 3 to start a 9-3 mini run, pushing the Gators up 13 minutes earlier in 16 minutes. UT Guard Jordan Gainey (Game High 24 Points) ran 8-0 and became a 5-point game within nine minutes, bringing the crowd to the next level.
Richard’s free throw (he got 8-8 from the line) stopped that UT surge, but point guard Zakaiseigler’s 23 points, eight assists and three steals continued to come. Three more times, they went under five. I saw this for the answer to each of Florida. Clayton 3-pointers Two Clayton Free Throw Clayton 3-pointers had a margin of 6 when the Gators finally got a “kill” (three consecutive defensive stops). First there was a free throw and three Haugh, then two Richard free throws. The latter rounded out an eight straight-point run, leading to a game-high 14 with four minutes remaining.
From there, it was mostly a free throwfest to the finish until it was over Tennessee’s full court pressure.
The party began on the Florida sideline, highlighting that associate director Carlin Hartman shares an emotional embrace for the year, and junior center Mika Handlogten broke his leg on the same floor in the ’24 title game. They both sobbed together last year. They did so again this year as SEC champions.
“I haven’t done it yet!” Martin refused to specifically declare to anyone.
Ah, we’ve done so much for the topic of whether Florida could lose the coveted first seed in the NCAA tournament if Florida wasn’t winning this game. Instead, the Gators issued a statement.
Noisy, but nonverbal.
“Human, I think we have to say nothing,” Clayton smiled afterwards.
fair enough. But there are still six more.
“We’re a hungry group and we know our main goals,” Richard said. “This is definitely a motivation. It’s a great feeling to cut the net, but I’d love to do it in the NCAA tournament as well.”
Email senior author Chris Harry to chrish@gators.ufl.edu
