Florida wins 2025 SEC Tournament championship: No. 4 Gators lock up top seed by beating No. 8 Tennessee

Championship gold will be returning to the hardwood in Gainesville, Florida, for the first time in 11 years as the No. 4 Florida Gators completed their journey by winning the 2025 SEC Tournament, 86-77 over the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers. The Gators captured their fifth SEC Tournament title in program history and first since 2014 by running through a gauntlet of opponents on their way to raising the trophy Sunday afternoon.

Florida (30-4), behind the leadership of head coach Todd Golden, has now gone 5-1 against the other three best teams in the SEC with road wins over Auburn and Alabama, SEC Tournament wins over Bama and Tennessee and a home win over the Volunteers with a road loss to their longtime foes.

The Gators will now await a decision from the NCAA Men’s Division I Selection Committee as to whether they are simply a No. 1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament or potentially the No. 1 overall seed given their dominance at the end of the season and the Tigers slipping by losing three of their last four games.

Before that comes into play, let’s take a look at what went down Sunday as Florida hoisted its first trophy in 11 years with some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … junior guard Denzel Aberdeen drove to the rack for a tough layup to put the Gators ahead by 10 points with 2 minutes remaining. Redshirt senior G Alijah Martin ultimately followed with a tremendous fastbreak slam dunk to push UF ahead by 12 points and put the game out of reach.

Florida used a 6-0 run shortly out of halftime to take a 13-point lead, which it maintained until midway through the period when the doors fell off. Boosted by a roaring crowd, Tennessee took advantage of a missed point-blank layup and turnover to compete an 8-0 run and cut its deficit to five points inside of 9 minutes. Five straight from sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, including a triple from the top of the key, plus a couple free throws by senior guard Will Richard, created an 8-0 response run that moved UF up to a game-high 14-point lead with 4:22 to play. It was able to hold on from there.

First half focus: Florida took its first lead with a 7-0 run in the early stages of the game before using a 9-1 scoring stretch to jump ahead by eight points. Richard drained his third 3-pointer of the early going to push the Gators into a 12-point advantage with 5 minutes until the break. Tennessee wound up cutting its deficit in half before Aberdeen hit a buzzer-beating triple to push UF ahead by nine at halftime.

Exceptional efforts: Clayton was back to his inefficient ways, but he nevertheless remained the straw that stirred the drink for the Gators posting a team-high 22 points on 7 of 18 shooting with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and only 2 fouls. Richard did nearly all of his scoring in the first half but stood strong at the charity stripe (8 of 8 on free throws) to finish with 17 points. Martin went 0 of 5 from downtown but scored 10 points, while Aberdeen posted 9 points in 20 minutes without a turnover.

Haugh and fellow sophomore F Alex Condon were similarly inefficient (6 of 15 combined), but they totaled 24 points and 15 rebounds while hitting 11 of 13 gimmies, many late in the game during crucial stretches. Sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu’s presence in the box score was limited, but he was clearly impactful on both ends of the court throughout the contest.

Odds & ends: Florida won its fifth SEC Tournament championship (2005-07, 2014, 2025) and is now 5-6 in the final during the modern era … UF improved to 61-82 all-time against UT, 3-2 under Golden … the Gators are now 52-53 all-time in the SEC Tournament, 6-2 under Golden … Florida is 8-2 this season against AP Top 25 opponents, 14-12 since Golden took over the program, and 5-1 against the three other best teams in the SEC … the Gators under Golden improved to 56-9 when leading at halftime (25-0 this season), 65-5 when leading with 5 minutes left (28-0), 51-10 when outrebounding an opponent (24-3), 41-15 when forcing more turnovers (21-1), 57-8 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range (27-0), 31-12 when shooting 75% or better from the free throw line (12-1) and 47-16 when 4+ players score in double figures (21-2) … Clayton extended his program record making a 3-pointer in his 55th consecutive game

Sunday marked a rare contest in which Florida won despite being outrebounded (20-23, 7-1), outshot from the field (8-26, 3-3) and outscored from the bench (28-18, 11-4)

What it means: As has been the case time and again this season, the Gators won a game in which they did not necessarily play their best but nevertheless finished decisively ahead of an opponent. Florida only shot 42.6% from the field and 33.3% from downtown but had its second-best free-throw shooting efforts of the season hitting 89.3% of its attempts. UF also limited turnovers (eight) and held the lead for the final 35:22 of the game.

The Gators have put together a resume that should not be in dispute. Florida improved to 11-4 against Quadrant 1 opponents, 20-4 against the first two quadrants. It will firmly be among the top four in the NET Rankings, and it is easily No. 2 in KenPom.com’s rankings. A No. 1 seed is all but decided, but UF should be in the conversation as the No. 1 overall team in March Madness given not only the quality of its wins but the level of dominance and circumstances surrounding them.

What’s next? The Gators will await word from the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee as to where they will place in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Florida will play a first-round game either Thursday or Friday.