NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points, and fourth-ranked Florida won its fifth SEC Tournament title and first since 2014 Sunday, beating the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers, 86-77.
The Gators (30-4) lost in this game a year ago. This time, they made sure to finish their 12th appearance in this game all-time to add another title to the list that started with three straight between 2005-07.
Will Richard added 17 points for Florida. Alex Condon had 13, Thomas Haugh 11 and Alijah Martin 10.
Fourth-seeded Tennessee (27-7) goes home still looking for its first title in this event since 2022. The Vols have five SEC championships but dropped to 1-3 under coach Rick Barnes with this the Vols’ fourth final in the past seven tournaments.
Jordan Gainey led the Vols with a career-high 24 points. Zakai Zeigler had 23, and Chaz Lanier added 11 before fouling out.
These teams split during the season with each winning routs defending their home courts. The Vols had enough fans that this felt like a home court. Yet they led only briefly, the last less than two minutes in at 6-5.
Florida took over from there. The Gators jumped out to a 34-22 lead and took a 39-30 edge into halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating deep 3 from Denzel Aberdeen. Tennessee never got closer than five in the second half.
