The fourth-seeded University of Tennessee men's basketball team dropped an 86-77 decision to second-seeded Florida in the SEC Tournament title game Sunday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
No. 8/6 Tennessee (27-7, 12-6 SEC) cut a 12-point deficit in the final 10 minutes down to five, but could not climb all the way back in the top-10 matchup with the third-ranked Gators. Senior guards
Jordan Gainey (game-high 24) and
Zakai Zeigler (23) both tallied season-best point totals in the program's 14th SEC Tournament final appearance.
After the Volunteers made 3-pointers on their first two possessions, Florida (30-4, 14-4 SEC) held them scoreless for 4:07, scoring seven straight points to claim an early 10-6 edge.
Tennessee soon knocked down two more 3-pointers—four of its first five makes came from deep—to level the score at 14 with 13:20 on the timer.
The sides split the next four points and then the Gators went on a 16-4 run to go up by a dozen, 32-20, with 5:11 left in the frame. The surge came during a stretch of 6:40 in which Tennessee went without a field goal, 2:58 of which it did not score.
Following baskets each way, the Volunteers went on an 8-2 run in 2:15 bookended by 3-pointers from senior guard
Zakai Zeigler to get within six, but Florida junior guard buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 39-30 at the intermission. The Gators made all six of their first-half free throws, while Tennessee missed three of its seven, and amassed scoring advantages of 16-4 in the paint and 7-0 off turnovers.
The Volunteers scored the opening basket of the second half, but Florida countered with six straight points in 73 seconds to take a 13-point lead, 45-32, with 18:23 to go. The edge remained 13 with under 10 minutes to go, but Gainey went on a personal 8-0 run in just 52 seconds to slice the margin to five, 60-55, with 8:56 to play.
The deficit remained five with fewer than seven minutes left, but Florida went on an 11-4 spurt that included eight consecutive points in 109 seconds to up by a game-best 14, 78-64, with 4:22 on the clock. Tennessee, 2:03 later, got it back down to eight, 80-72, but the Gators held on to win the league championship
Gainey, who scored 10 consecutive Tennessee second-half points, finished 7-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the line. The seven made field goals tied his season best, while the eight made free throws matched a career high he also recorded one day prior.
Zeigler shot 5-of-9 from the field, 4-of-7 beyond the arc and 9-of-10 at the stripe. The four made 3-poitners matched his season high, while the nine made free throws—for the second day in a row—tied the third-highest mark of his career. He added a game-best eight assists to enter the top three on the SEC's single-season leaderboard (242) and move one away from the Tennessee career record (715). His game-best three steals also pushed him into the top 10 on the SEC's all-time list (245).
Fifth-year guard
Chaz Lanier added 11 points before fouling out in just 22-plus minutes of action, while junior forward
Felix Okpara had six points, five rebounds and a game-leading three blocks.
Walter Clayton Jr., a
The Sporting News First Team All-American, paced the Gators with 22 points, although Tennessee did limit him to 7-of-18 shooting. Fellow senior guard Will Richard had 17 points and a team-high three assists, while sophomore forward/center Alex Condon totaled 13 points and a game-best nine rebounds.
Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh scored 11 points for Florida and graduate guard Alijah Martin chipped in 10. It marked the second time in 2024-25 the Volunteers conceded double-digit points to five different players.
Gainey, Zeigler, Clayton Jr. (MVP) and Richard earned four of the five spots on the SEC All-Tournament Team, while Auburn's Johni Broome claimed the other.
The two sides posted similar percentages from the field (44.9 [22-of-49] for Tennessee and 42.6 [26-of-61] for Florida) and beyond the arc (30.8 [8-of-26] for Tennessee and 33.3 [9-of-27] for Florida). However, the Gators shot 89.3 percent (25-of-28) at the line to the Volunteers' 78.1 percent (25-of-32) clip, plus amassed a 39-25 rebounding edge that featured a 15-5 disparity on the offensive end.
Florida's 86 points also marked the most Tennessee has allowed in a contest since a Feb. 3, 2024, victory at Kentucky.
The Volunteers will now await their seed, destination and draw for the NCAA Tournament, as they are set to make their program-best seventh consecutive appearance in the event.
• The Volunteers fell to 76-59 all-time in the SEC Tournament, including 73-58 in regulation, 66-54 at neutral sites, 13-8 under Barnes and 5-5 versus Florida.
• In addition, Tennessee now carries a 26-20 mark in SEC Tournament games in its home state, including a 17-14 record in Nashville.
• The Volunteers fell to 5-9 all-time in SEC Tournament title games, including 1-5 in their home state (0-3 in Nashville).
• Tennessee dropped to 82-61 in its all-time series with Florida, which dates to 1927, including 4-5 at neutral sites, with the 82 victories still tied for its fourth-most over any foe.
• Tennessee is now 9-4 in its last 13 matchups against Florida, after dropping five of the prior six series contests.
• Sunday marked the eighth AP top-25 clash between the Volunteers and Gators, with Tennessee now 4-4 in those affairs.
• Tennessee and Florida met for the third time this season with both ranked in the AP top 10 after never previously doing so.
• During its active 78-week AP Poll streak, which dates to the 2021-22 preseason poll, Sunday marked just the 17th time in 141 games Tennessee played a higher-ranked team, falling to 10-7 in those outings, including 9-5 since Jan. 22, 2022, and 7-3 against SEC foes.
• The Volunteers fell to 37-27 (.578) in AP top-25 clashes under head coach
Rick Barnes, including 9-5 (.643) in 2024-25.
• The above overall record features a 25-14 (.641) mark since Feb. 26, 2022, and a 16-7 (.696) count since Dec. 9, 2023.
• The Volunteers dropped to 11-9 (.550) in AP top-10 showdowns during Barnes' 10-year tenure as head coach.
• Tennessee is now to 43-42 (.506) against AP top-25 foes in the Barnes era, including 27-15 (.643) since Jan. 22, 2022.
• The Volunteers fell to 17-16 (.515) versus AP top-10 teams under Barnes, including 15-10 (.600) since March 2, 2019, and 12-7 (.632) since Dec. 22, 2021.
• Barnes-led Tennessee teams now own an 11-10 (.524) record versus AP top-five opponents, including a 7-5 (.583) tally since Feb. 15, 2022.
• Tennessee moved to 9-3 (.750) against AP top-five SEC teams in the Barnes era, including 8-2 (.800) since March 2, 2019.
• Across its last 32 outings against AP top-15 squads—that dates to Dec. 22, 2021—Tennessee is now 22-10 (.688).
• Tennessee committed seven fouls in the opening 9:26, putting Florida in the bonus with 10:34 left in the first half, but did not commit another one the rest of the frame.
• The Volunteers allowed 36-plus points in the first half for just the seventh time in its 34 outings in 2024-25.
• Two Tennessee players, Lanier and senior guard
Jahmai Mashack, fouled out with over four minutes to play.
• Florida's 86 points surpassed the 81 scored Feb. 5 by Missouri for the most by a Tennessee foe this year.
• The last time Tennessee allowed 86-plus points was a 103-92 road win on Feb. 3, 2024, at Kentucky while the last time it did so in a defeat was a 100-92 road setback on Nov. 29, 2023, at North Carolina.
• The lone prior instance this season with a Tennessee foe posting a quintet of double-digit scorers came Jan. 28 when Kentucky did so.
• The Volunteers made 24-plus free throws in all three of their SEC Tournament games, compiling 74 total points from the line in the event.
• Gainey and Zeigler became the eighth Tennessee duo to score 23-plus points in the same game in Barnes' 10-year tenure, including the first since Zeigler and
Josiah-Jordan James had 26 apiece in a Feb. 3, 2024, victory at Kentucky.
• Tennessee last had two 20-point scorers in the same game Feb. 5 against Missouri, with Zeigler and senior forward
Igor Milicic Jr., each notching 21.
• The eight assists for Zeigler increased his tally this year to 242, jumping from eighth to third on the SEC's single-season list, with Ole Miss' Sean Tuohy (260 in 1979-80) and Kentucky's Tyler Ulis (246 in 2015-16) the only ones above him.
• Zeigler's three steals pushed his career total to 245, matching LSU's Torris Bright (1999-2003) for the No. 10 spot on the SEC's all-time list.
• With 37 minutes of action, Zeigler increased his career total to 3,888, passing Chris Lofton (3,859 from 2004-08) and Vincent Yarbrough (3,859 from 1998-2002) to enter the top 10 on Tennessee's all-time leaderboard, jumping from No. 11 to ninth.
• Zeigler registered 20-plus points for the 11th time in his career, including the ninth versus an SEC foe, the eighth away from home, the fourth in 2024-25 and the second in as many days.
• Zeigler's 23 points eclipsed the 22 he scored Feb. 15 against Vanderbilt for his top total of the 2024-25 season.
• The 23 points for Zeigler marked his fourth-highest total as a collegian, with each of those four outings away from home.
• Zeigler's nine made free throws tied the third-highest mark of his career and marked his fifth time reaching that total, including the third this season and the second in as many days.
• The 10 free-throw attempts for Zeigler tied his fifth-most as a Volunteer and marked his ninth time reaching double digits, including the third in 2024-25.
• Zeigler connected on four 3-point attempts for the fourth time this season, all of them on eight or fewer attempts.
• Lanier, who increased his season point total to 601, now has the 25th 600-point campaign in Tennessee history and he is the 16th different Volunteer to reach that mark.
• Okpara's three blocked shots increased his 2024-25 count to 60, tying Doug Roth (1988-89) for sixth on the program's single-season leaderboard and marking the seventh 60-block campaign in Tennessee history.
• Gainey reached 20 points for the 15th time in his career, including his second in two years as a Volunteer, joining a 23-point outing Dec. 14, 2024, at Illinois.
• Gainey made a career-best eight free throws for the sixth time as a collegian, including the third in 2024-25 and the second in as many days.
• The nine free-throw attempts for Gainey ted a career high and marked his fourth time reaching that number, including the second at Tennessee, joining an 8-of-9 showing Dec. 14, 2024, at Illinois.
• Fifth-year guard
Darlinstone Dubar scored five points and went 3-of-4 at the line, setting season highs in free throws both made and attempted.