Florida powers past No. 16 Alabama 105-87 despite 33-point Outing from Sears
By Justin Brosemer
After falling to Alabama earlier this season, Florida got their revenge in a massive blowout, while celebrating their senior night in Gainesville, this past Tuesday. The Gators received a major boost from the 11,000 fans in the O’Dome, and were driven by their high potent backcourt.
The Florida men’s basketball team hosted and defeated the Alabama squad 105-87, marking the Crimson Tide’s second SEC loss in a row after falling to Tennessee this past weekend. Both teams entered the matchup with a bid to the NCAA tournament secured, looking to improve their conference seeding before the SEC Tournament. Alabama (20-10, 12-5) now projects to drop down to a 4 slot, according to Bracket experts, who also project Florida (21-9, 11-6 SEC) to rise to a 6 seed.
Florida displayed their dominance on both ends in the meeting. especially on offense. Will Richard (23), Walter Clayton Jr. (22), Zyon Pullin (19), and Tyrese Samuel (19) all put up 19+ in the outing, thanks to the team’s season-high in free throw makes with 40. Atlanta native Will Richard scored 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field, after being held scoreless on the road vs. South Carolina. The Gators starting backcourt which averages 43.3PPG finished with 64 points which was nearly the difference in the final score.
“We were very physical,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “We did what we needed to do to beat the best offensive team in America.”
Alabama has now lost three of four of their last matchups and was unable to bring the game within single digits since the 17:33 mark in the second half. Even so, Mark Sears continues to prove he’s one of the most dominant scoring guards in NCAA basketball fresh off a nomination for the Bob Cousy award with his 33-point game-high finish–his third 30-point game of the season. Senior guard Aaron Estrada scored 17 and Grant Nelson added 12.
The free throw disparity in the matchup (20/25 vs. 40/46) played a vital role in the Florida win, making Alabama play to the tune of the Gators strengths instead of what transpired in their matchup last November.
“It’s not a recipe for winning games when you get doubled up at the free-throw line," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. He added “They were very physical with us. We had some offensive frustrations and some defensive letdowns.”
Florida now has a chance to return to the AP poll after finishing 14-1 at home this season while Alabama suffers their first loss to an unranked opponent since Clemson upset the Crimson Tide in November.
Both teams will wrap their season after their next game on Saturday, March 9th. Alabama heads home to fend off Arkansas and the Gators will head to Vanderbilt as they each begin to mentally prepare for both the SEC and National Tournament.
