By Ken Cross
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 4 Florida Gators set the tone immediately in their 86-77 win over No. 8 Tennessee. Will Richard scored eight early points to push the Gators to a 25-17 lead with 7:38 to play. Tennessee made several runs, but the Gators’ defense rose to get the stops and they hit clutch shots to win and grab a 1-seed in the East Region on Friday in Raleigh.
“Again, this was part of our growth of our program – being able to compete for a championship last year, falling a little short, continuing to raise the level of our program in every facet, adding some players, players within our program continuing to grow, our staff growing tighter,” said Coach Todd Golden, who saw his team win it’s 30th game of the season.
The Gators have been able to set the tone early in games and then push their leads and force opponents to adapt to their style of play.
“This was kind of the next jump for us, coming here and being able to win this tournament in what is the best conference in college basketball over the last 20 years,” said Golden.
Florida led by as many as 12 in the first half and took a 39-30 lead to the break.
For the game, the Gators outrebounded Tennessee, 39-25, and 15-5 on the offensive boards where they tabulated 12 points.
“If I look at it from a statistical standpoint, the fact that we just got out-rebounded the way we did, large number, that led to second-chance points, paint touches,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “That was huge obviously.”
Small forward Will Richard has been part of that structure with his early threes and his leadership. He was the SEC Tournament MVP as a steady performer on both sides of the ball who is complementary to Walter Clayton in the backcourt.
“I feel like that award should go to the whole team. We all had a huge impact getting this done this weekend.” said Richard. “It’s just for the whole team.”
Florida stretched it’s lead to as many as 13 on five occasions throughout the first 10 minutes in the second half.
Clayton, Richard, Alijah Martin, and Thomas Haugh made key shots when Tennessee cut into that lead. Clayton scored on a layup in transition to push the lead back to 58-45 with 11:21 remaining.
Haugh has been a major inside threat with Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu. He hit the boards once again, scoring off the offensive glass and he made a pair of free throws in expediting the 13-point lead.
Jordan Gainey had an incredible afternoon as he finished with a season high 24 points. He cut into Florida’s advantage by scoring seven in a row to cut it to 60-55 with 8:56 remaining. Zakai Zeigler finished with 23 points for Tennessee.
Florida closed the door on any thoughts of Volunteers’ win when the Gators had a three-pointer from Haugh with five free throws to build the lead to 78-64 with 4:19 remaining in the game.
All Tournament Team:
Will Richard, G, Florida – MVP
Walter Clayton, G, Florida
Zakai Zeigler, G, Tennessee,
Jordan Gainey, G, Tennessee,
Johni Broome, F, Auburn