Gators Dominate Crimson Tide in Quarterfinal, Post 102-88 Win
For the second time in 10 days, Florida dominated the Alabama en route to a convincing double-digit victory.
Led by Walter Clayton Jr., Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin’s 58 points and eight assists combined and a strong two-way effort, the Gators toppled the No. 3 seed Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal matchup, 102-88, to advance forward in the field.
UF takes an 8-7 all-time series lead against UA in head-to-head SEC Tournament matchups.
Florida fell down early to an energetic Alabama team out of the gate.
Bursting in front to an 8-0 lead in under two minutes, Alabama took advantage of an 0-of-4 shooting start for the Gators and forced an early timeout by head coach Todd Golden in an attempt to regroup.
Junior guard Will Richard answered the call with a left wing triple to break the seal on the basket. Despite a quick answer from the Crimson Tide on the other end, the eight-point advantage proved to be the largest of the half, and thus the game, for UA as the Gators clawed to remain within striking distance in the early going.
Kept at an arm’s distance initially, UF pulled back within one possession of the Tide with just under 13 minutes remaining in the first period, setting the stage for a competitive finish to the period.
However, after an initial back and forth, which saw the Gators deficit bounce between two and four points for several minutes, they grabbed ahold of the lead for the first time at the 4:42 mark of the first half.
And they never let it go.
Florida’s renowned backcourt duo, Pullin and Clayton, produced at an efficient rate as scorers en route to a 21-2 run over the final six minutes of the half to flip the script on the contest.
Pullin and Clayton finished the half as the game’s lone double-digit scorers. Florida took a 15-point lead into the second period as a result, leading 48-33 at the break.
The Gators picked up where they left off when the second-half began, dictating the pace and play of the game with a complementary two-way performance.
They outscored Alabama 14-8 in the first five minutes for the period, opening the door for the lead to swell to 22.
Samuel elicited the effort with an uber-dominant 10-point showing during that stretch, imposing his will on the inside to score with ease.
The cushion he helped provide allowed UF to maintain the sizable lead on Alabama in the final 15-plus minutes of the contest. The UF advantage grew to as much as 24 points with 10:35 remaining.
Richard again put his stamp on the contest, connecting on the first of three dagger shots from downtown from the high corner with 8:13 remaining. Forward Alex Condon and guard Denzel Aberdeen followed suit minutes later to effectively put the contest out of reach.
Florida finished the day shooting 50.8% from the field and 35% from beyond the three-point line. It also drastically improved its form from the charity stripe followed a lowly performance against Georgia on Thursday, shooting 86.1% from the line to supplement scoring attack in both halves.
Florida is set to take on Texas A&M at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday as both squad’s vie to compete in the SEC Championship contest on Sunday afternoon.
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