All Gators

Florida Gators Clinch Share of SEC Regular Season-Title with Win over Arkansas

Alabama's win over Tennessee kept Florida from winning the outright title, but the Gators clinched a share of its first SEC regular-season title since 2014.
Cam Parker|
Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu paved the way for the win over Arkansas with his 17th double-double of the season.
Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu paved the way for the win over Arkansas with his 17th double-double of the season. | Travis Register-Imagn Images

In this story:

Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- For the first time since 2014, the Florida Gators will have at least a share of the SEC regular-season title, and Todd Golden's squad left little doubt in a thrashing of second-place Arkansas.

A dominant first half paved the way for the seventh-ranked Gators, now on a nine-game winning streak, to defeat No. 20 Arkansas, 111-77, on Saturday. A win clinched a share of the title, while No. 17 Alabama's win over Tennessee kept the Gators from clinching the outright title.

The win also clinched the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, with Florida holding the tiebreaker over Alabama.

Florida used multiple big scoring runs of its own plus multiple multi-minute scoring droughts from Arkansas to build a 19-point lead at halftime.

After Arkansas took a 16-11 lead with 14:23 left in the half, Florida, sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Urban Klavzar (14 points), went on a 12-0 run to flip the momentum and take a seven-point lead. Buckets from Rueben Chinyelu, Xaivian Lee (13 points) and Thomas Haugh (22 points) pushed the lead to 11 with under nine minutes left.

Chinyelu finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds, clinching his 17th double-double of the season. The achievement also comes just one game after Chinyelu broke the program record for single-season offensive rebounds against Texas.

His rebounding effort headlined Florida's dominance on the glass, where the Gators out-rebounded Arkansas, 51-31.

The Razorbacks, meanwhile, went over four minutes without a field goal after its lead, missing 10 shots in a row. Their only points coming from a pair of free throws by Richmond III, who also added a dunk and a layup to keep it at an 11-point game and end the field goal drought. However, another field goal drought by Arkansas and a flurry of points by Florida extended the lead to 24 with 2:33 left in the half.

Isaiah Brown (11 points) himself went on an 8-0 run, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and recording a fast break dunk, while Arkansas missed seven-straight field goals.

Testy moments headlined the early portion of the second half, with both Golden and Arkansas head coach John Calipari each being assessed technicals and multiple flagrant one fouls being called. Florida, meanwhile extended its lead to 30 behind two more Klavzar 3-pointers to give the Gators a 73-43 advantage.

Boogie Fland, facing his former team for the first time, scored all 14 of his points in the second half, while Haugh added 13. Alex Condon scored 17, nine of which came in the second half, to give Florida seven scorers in double figures for the first time since 2017.

Florida, either an Alabama loss away or one win away from clinching the outright title, remains at Exactech Arena on Tuesday for its final home game of the season, facing Mississippi State (13-16, 5-11 SEC) at 8 p.m. Television coverage is on SEC Network.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

Share on XFollow camparker25
Home/Basketball