Florida 24-10/11-7 SEC vs. #12 Auburn 26-7/13-5 SEC Bridgestone Arena (19,395) | Nashville, Tenn. | SEC Tournament Championship Game Game 35 | March 17, 2024 | 1 p.m. EDT BROADCAST INFO ESPN | ESPN App Play-by-Play: Tom Hart Analyst: Jimmy Dykes Sideline: Marty Smith Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley Analyst: Lee Humphrey Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan
HEAD COACHES Todd Golden 40-27 | 2nd season at UF 97-63 | 5th season overall Bruce Pearl 199-118 | 10th season at Auburn 661-263 | 29th season overall MATCHUP BASICS All-Time Series: 83-91 In SEC Tournament: 4-4 Series under Golden: 1-1 Last Meeting: W,81-65, 2/10/24 (Home)
FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.0 14.0 7.6 1.8 ast 3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 19.5 5.5 7.1 .622 fg% 0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.5 15.6 3.9 5.0 ast 1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.0 17.3 3.6 2.6 3fg 5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.5 11.5 4.0 2.0 3fg AUBURN POSSIBLE STARTERS # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc. 2 Jaylin Williams F 6-8 245 Gr. 24.2 12.6 4.4 2.0 ast 4 Johni Broome F 6-10 240 Jr. 24.8 16.2 8.3 2.2 blk 10 Chad Baker-Mazara F 6-7 180 Jr. 22.3 10.3 3.8 2.2 ast 1 Aden Holloway G 6-1 178 Fr. 20.3 7.6 1.5 1.5 3fg 12 Denver Jones G 6-4 205 Jr. 21.8 8.8 2.0 1.4 3fg
NUMBERS OF NOTE 5Florida has had five double-figure scorers in all three SEC Tournament victories this week, including five players with 15+ points in the semifinal win, led by Denzel Aberdeen’s career-high 20. 4Florida has won four SEC Tournament titles in program history: 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014. Florida makes its 11th SEC Tournament championship game appearance on Sunday. 20Denzel Aberdeen became the seventh different Gator to post a 20-point outing this season with his breakout performance vs. Texas A&M in the semifinals.
THE TIP-OFF• Florida competes in the SEC Tournament championship game for the 11th time in program history and seeks its fifth SEC Tournament title. The Gators last appeared in the final in 2014, where UF capped an 18-0 regular season with the tournament crown. • Florida has reached the SEC Tournament game by scoring 94.0 points per game through its first three wins, featuring five double-figure scorers in each contest. The Gators have shot .429 from 3-point range with 9.0 3-point field goals per game and have averaged 27.0 points at the free throw line. • First-team All-SEC honoree Zyon Pullin ranks second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.90) and is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season number of the 2000s. • Second-team All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr. has the #8 scoring season (587) and #9 most 3-point field goals made (88) in a season in Florida history. His 14 games with 20+ points, including the first two SEC Tournament games here in Nashville, are the most by a Gator since Anthony Roberson had 14 in 2003-04. • In the frontcourt, Florida has gotten 11 double-doubles from AP second-team All-SEC forward Tyrese Samuel, the most by a Gator since Al Horford’s 16 in 2006-07, and a 18.0% offensive rebounding percentage from Micah Handlogten, which ranks fourth in the nation. SEC All-Freshman big man Alex Condon leads the league’s freshmen in rebounding (6.3) and blocked shots (41.) 2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS• Florida lit the scoreboard for 105 points in the home win vs. 16th-ranked Alabama, the Gators’ most all-time in regulation vs. a ranked opponent. Will Richard led the attack with 23 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 22, while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel scored 19 points each. • Tyrese Samuel’s career-high 28 points led the Gators in the win vs. Missouri. Samuel (10 rebounds) and Micah Handlogten (12 points/12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles, while Zyon Pullin added 21 points. • Florida’s win vs. #12 Auburn marked the Gators’ 15th in a row at home vs. the Tigers. Riley Kugel’s 22 points led the Gators, along with 20 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 19 by Zyon Pullin. • The Gators win at 10th-ranked Kentucky featured a trio of 20-point scorers in Walter Clayton Jr. (23), Tyrese Samuel (22) and Zyon Pullin (21). Clayton’s 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds left in regulation forced overtime. • Micah Handlogten posted 23 points and 17 rebounds in the home win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. The Gators completed the sweep in Athens for a 10th straight win vs. Georgia behind 21 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 17 by Thomas Haugh. • Will Richard led the Gators with 23 points and nine rebounds in the win vs. Mississippi State as Florida committed a season-low seven turnovers. Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. each added 15 points. • Zyon Pullin scored 22 and Tyrese Samuel posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Gators’ double overtime victory vs. Michigan in Charlotte. Pullin’s 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining in OT forced the final session. • The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton Jr., a 20-point, 10-rebound performance from Tyrese Samuel and a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover showing as a team.
FLORIDA IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT • All-Time Record: 49-52 • Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014) • Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013) • Florida notched its first SEC Tournament win since 2021, advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2019 and now plays for the SEC. • The Gators’ last trip to the final resulted in a 61-60 win vs. Kentucky that capped a perfect 18-0 SEC season with an SEC Tournament crown. • Florida and Auburn have split the previous four SEC Tournament meetings, most recently an Auburn win in the 2019 semifinal. OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES March 2 Mississippi State W 78-63 March 5 at Missouri W 101-74 March 9 Georgia W 92-78 March 15 vs. South Carolina W 86-55 March 16 vs. Mississippi State W 73-66 SEC TOURNAMENT VS. AUBURN (4-4) March 4, 1981 Birmingham W/OT 50-48 March 8, 1985 Birmingham (semifinals) L 42-43 March 5, 1998 Atlanta W 68-64 March 10, 2000 Atlanta L 70-78 March 7, 2002 Atlanta W 81-63 March 13, 2009 Tampa L 65-68 March 11, 2010 Nashville W 78-69 March 16, 2019 Nashville (semifinals) L 62-65 LAST 20 VS. AUBURN (15-5) March 13, 2009 SEC L 58-61 Feb. 18, 2010 H W 78-70 March 11, 2010 SEC W 78-69 Jan. 20, 2011 A W 45-40 Feb. 21, 2012 H W 63-47 Feb. 16, 2013 A W 83-52 Jan. 18, 2014 A W 68-61 Feb. 19, 2014 H W 71-66 Jan. 15, 2015 H W 75-55 Jan. 23, 2016 H W 95-63 Feb. 14, 2017 A W 114-95 Feb. 24, 2018 H W 72-66 Feb. 5, 2019 A L 62-76 March 16, 2019 SEC L 62-65 Jan. 18, 2020 H W 69-47 Feb. 23, 2021 A W 74-57 Jan. 8, 2022 A L 73-85 Feb. 19, 2022 H W 63-62 Dec. 28, 2022 A L 58-61 Feb. 10, 2024 H W 81-65
I was interested to know who the one player who has a better assist to turnover ratio than Pullin and this website has our guy listed as the 8th best. And they list 2 guys who play for Drake higher than Pullin. I guess Drake isn't div 1? NCAA Basketball Player Stats - Assist to Turnover Ratio
Let’s go Gators!!!!! Bring that ship home!!!! #5 seed sounds nice. Love the new mentality. As for several years, it seemed like if we win one or two that’s great but this will give us rest for the tournament, when Sometimes we’d be lucky to be in the tournament. These are very good times and what I’ve learned is to really slow them down and enjoy it all because never not within the next year will hold, Although I think we are in good hands with Golden.
This contest is very winnable for UF. Whipped em once already. I very much would like to see UF win a ring this year (SEC ring) and the opportunity is out there. Win or lose, I thank the players, staff and Gator Nation for a super fun year and what appears to be the resurrection of Gator basketball!
Thank you, @GatorGrowl ! By all indicators......this might be a bigger battle than any game we've played so far this year.....and that says a lot! I'm excited for our players & staff to have the opportunity. GO Gators!
Because Aberdeen took his minutes. And I will add that Kugels ball handling has been a liability. He's had 23 more TO this season than Pullin...
