Florida Erases 18-Point Deficit Vs. Texas A&M, Advances to SEC Championship
An opportune breakout performance from guard Denzel Aberdeen and impressive offensive surge in the second half willed the Gators to erase an 18-point first half deficit to defeat the Aggies in the SEC Tournament semi-finals on Saturday afternoon, 95-90.
Florida advances to the conference title game to take on the Auburn Tigers on Sunday.
Texas A&M commanded the contest from the initial tip, leading for all 20 minutes of the first half thanks to its impressive 6-of-13 shooting mark — anchored by Wade Taylor IV’s 20-point first half, including 11 of the team’s first 15 points — and uber-active defensive presence.
The deficit reached its peak as UF failed to score a field goal for over four minutes of game time. The extended field goal drought resulted in the Gators falling down 18 with 5:20 remaining in the first half.
But, the train wasn’t off the tracks completely. Florida provided a late-half answer behind a breakout scoring game for Aberdeen.
Connecting on two threes and two buckets on the interior in a two-minute span off the bench, Aberdeen matched his career scoring high with 12 first-half points to elicit the Gators' comeback efforts.
His individual scoring effort, leading the Gators at the half, kickstarted the unit en route to dwindling the Aggies’ lead after a sluggish first 15 minutes of action in game three of their SEC Tournament tilt.
Will Richard followed Aberdeen’s lead by connecting on a triple of his own on the ensuing possession, pulling Florida within seven with just over two minutes remaining.
Their long balls gave the Gators enough juice to close the half strong, cutting the 18-point deficit in half before the break. Florida trailed by eight, 50-42, when the time in the first half expired.
Florida’s momentum carried into the second-half.
Following a brief back and forth, which saw A&M re-extend the lead slightly, Florida pulled within two as season-long leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. connected on a three.
His triple was the tenth Gators’ field goal make in the team’s last 14 attempts.
Florida, taking advantage of Taylor’s absence due to foul trouble, took its first lead of the game at the 13:59 mark thanks to another Clayton three.
From there, both squads jockeyed for position, but failed to amount more than a two-possession lead until Aberdeen again connected from deep at an opportune time to give the Gators an eight-point lead with 5:35 remaining.
Aberdeen finished 6-of-9 from the floor with four triples to account for 20 total points, after just 28 points against league opponents throughout the entire season, to set a new career-high.
Clayton then buried another three to take a double-digit lead with just under 3:30 remaining.
The backcourt duo were two of five Gators — also including Tyrese Samuel, Will Richard and Zyon Pullin — to post double-digit points on the day, allowing UF to stifle the Aggies’ late heroics and come away with its 24th win of the year.
Florida will hit the hardwood for the final time inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Sunday afternoon against Auburn at 1 p.m. ET.
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