NASHVILLE, Tenn. – 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.
