NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points and fourth-ranked Florida won its fifth Southeastern Conference Tournament title and first since 2014 Sunday, beating the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers 86-77.
The Gators (30-4) lost in this game a year ago. This time, they made sure to finish their 12th appearance in this game all-time to add another title to the list that started with three straight between 2005-07.
Will Richard added 17 points for Florida. Alex Condon had 13, Thomas Haugh 11 and Alijah Martin 10.
Fourth-seeded Tennessee (27-7) goes home still looking for its first title in this event since 2022. The Vols have five SEC championships, but dropped to 1-3 under coach Rick Barnes with this the Vols' fourth final in the past seven tournaments.
Jordan Gainey led the Vols with a career-high 24 points. Zakai Zeigler had 23 and Chaz Lanier added 11 before fouling out.
These teams split during the season with each winning routs defending their home courts. The Vols had enough fans that this felt like a home court. Yet they led only briefly, the last less than two minutes in at 6-5.
Florida took over from there. The Gators jumped out to a 34-22 lead and took a 39-30 edge into halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating deep 3 from Denzel Aberdeen. Tennessee never got closer than five in the second half.
Takeaways
Tennessee: Playing this tournament in the Volunteer State doesn't help the Vols. They are 1-5 all-time in SEC title games in this state. They go home with the last tournament title won in Tennessee back in 1936 in Knoxville.
Florida: The Gators have played a program-record seven games this season with both teams ranked in the Top 10. They now are 5-2 after going 6-16 before this season.
Key moment
Tennessee got within five four times in the second half. After the final time, Clayton's 3 with 6:48 left started an 11-2 spurt to seal the win.
Key stat
The Gators dominated the boards 39-25.
Up next
Both teams await their seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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