NASHVILLE, Tn. — Tennessee basketball’s run at the SEC Tournament in Nashville came up just short as Florida withstood the Vols’ second half push to win the SEC Tournament Championship 86-77 on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s three quick takeaways as Tennessee fell in the championship game.
Tennessee Struggles To Consistently Slow Down Florida
Tennessee did something unheard of in the first matchup in Knoxville, holding Florida’s high powered offense to just 44 points.
It was no surprise that Florida’s high-powered offense had much more success in this meeting but the Gators’ offense gave Tennessee fits. Florida had 39 points at halftime and matched its 42 points from the last meeting with 18:23 to play in the game.
Florida created no shortage of good looks, totaling 32 points in the paint and doing a good job of scoring easy baskets in transition before Tennessee’s defense was set. But it was the tough shots that Florida hit with Vol defenders draped over them that were backbreakers.
Twice in the first half, Florida drilled deep contested three-pointers when the shot clock expired. Will Richard hit the first with Jordan Gainey in his face and Denzel Aberdeen hit a deep triple with Jahmai Mashack in his face to close out the first half.
Florida finished the game scoring 86 points on 1.265 points per possession and 33% shooting from three-point range.
Jordan Gainey Sparks Tennessee’s Run
Florida seemed like it had an immediate answer for everything that Tennessee could throw at them and the Vols wouldn’t be able to make a true run.
Jordan Gainey had other ideas. For the second straight day, Gainey was terrific for Tennessee in the second half and he sparked the run that got the Vols to five points— as close as they would get in the second half.
Gainey scored nine points in a 2:10 stretch of play including a 7-0 run by himself that cut Florida’s lead to five points with just over nine minutes to play.
The senior guard hit a big triple, got to the foul line and drove to the basket and scored with authority. The senior guard scored 24 points on seven-of-15 shooting from the field. Gainey’s improvement has been jaw dropping this season and he is playing his best basketball entering the postseason.
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Florida Wins In The Margins
Florida could have won the game just based off its high offensive efficiency and solid shooting but they won as handedly as they did because of what they did in the margins. The Gators won the turnover, offensive rebounding and free throw battle.
Tennessee didn’t have a serious turnover problem against Florida like they have had at times this season. But they still lost the turnover battle 9-8 and Florida did a good job of scoring easy transition buckets off the turnovers.
Where Florida grabbed a significant edge is one the glass. The Gators have been a great offensive rebounding team all season and they hammered Tennessee on the glass, particularly when Igor Milicic or Darlinstone Dubar were playing the four-spot.
Overall, Florida out rebounded Tennessee 39-25 and 15-5 on the offensive glass. The Gators 12 second chance points were huge and proved to be back breakers for Tennessee a number of times in the second half as they pushed for a comeback.
It was a less significant difference, but Florida was also a bit more efficient at the free throw line. The Gators made 25-of-28 free throw attempts and Tennessee made 25-of-32 attempts.
Final Stats
Up Next
Tennessee basketball awaits its NCAA Tournament draw. The NCAA Selection Show is at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday night. CBS is broadcasting the event.
