FINAL
Florida 95
Texas A&M 90
SECOND HALF
– Richard adds a pair of free throws to keep Florida in front by six, but Radford knocks down a jumper at the other end to make it a four-point game with 1:01 remaining
– Obaseki fouls out with 1:34 remaining
– Wade Taylor IV drills a three-pointer after a pair of free throws from Pullin. Florida leads, 88-84
– Radford makes a free throw to cut UF's lead to five, 86-81, with 2:10 remaining
– Clayton Jr.'s three-pointer gives the Gators a 10-point advantage. Florida is 3:21 away from the SEC Tournament final as the final media timeout arrives
– Will Richard's whistled for a foul, and Radford splits the pair. Florida leads, 80-75, with 4:12 remaining
– Denzel Aberdeen knocks down a corner three-pointer to put Florida up by eight
– Will Richard knocks down a three-pointer, his fourth of the game, to give the Gators a 75-72 advantage
– Thomas Haugh picks up his fourth foul, and Solomon Washington sinks both free throws, making it a one-point game
– Radford scores to bring the Aggies within three, and Buzz Williams signals for timeout with 9:43 to play
– Denzel Aberdeen buries a three-point to give the Gators a six-point lead
– Pullin drops in the layup coming out of the timeout to extend Florida's lead to 65-62
– The lead has changed hands several times now. Condon comes up with a steal, leading to a fastbreak layup from Pullin. UF leads, 63-62. The Gators have 10 fastbreak points, while the Aggies have yet to score in transition
– Florida takes a 59-58 lead on Walter Clayton Jr.'s three-pointer from the wing.
– Condon, in for Handlogten, knocks down a one-handed turnaround jumper from eight feet out, followed by a three-pointer by Clayton to cut the TAMU lead to two ahead of the media timeout with 15:45 remaining in regulation
– Handlogten's whistled for his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half. TAMU has scored four points in 1:09, all on free throws
– Zyon Pullin opens the second half with a three-pointer to pull the Gators within five of the Aggies
FIRST HALF
— HALF. Texas A&M 50 Florida 42. The Gators trailed by as many as 18 in this half and did a great job to cut into that lead to close out the period. Denzel Aberdeen played the best half of his career, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3.
— Texas A&M timeout with 25.1 seconds left in the half. Aggies 48 Gators 42. Florida is on a 20-8 run over the last 4:55 and has converted six of its last eight attempts.
— Florida coming alive with a 17-6 run. It's a seven-point game now.
— Denzel Abderdeen with a steal and score, upping Florida's run to 11-4 over the last 2:03. It's 44-33 Texas A&M with 2:57 left in the first half.
— A Denzel Aberdeen 3 snapped a near-five-minute stretch without a Florida field goal. Texas A&M 42 Florida 29 (two FT incoming). Florida hasn't had an answer for Wade Taylor, who has 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting with three assists.
— Florida can't get the lid off the hoop from the field, shooting just 27.8 percent so far with five turnovers. No FGs over the last 4:23. The Aggies, on the other hand, haven't missed much. They're 13-for-26 and 6-for-12 from 3. A&M up 40-24 with 4:36 left in the first half.
— Golden calls timeout with 8:20 to play in 1H. Texas A&M 33 Florida 20. The Aggies are on a 13-5 run over the last 3:25 to take a 13-point lead. Todd Golden is fuming on the Florida sideline and just laying into the officials for what he clearly thinks is a lack of calls.
— Micah Handlogten just picked up his third foul with 8:46 to play in the first half. Todd Golden is going off on referee Steven Anderson, screaming "What do you want him to do?"
— Florida is getting crushed by the 3-ball. Texas A&M is 5-for-9 from deep and leads 29-20 now.
— Clayton, Samuel and Handlogten back in. Richard, Haugh and Condon out. Backcourt is now Pullin, Clayton and Aberdeen, another seldom used combo this seaosn.
— Florida is in the bonus with 11:27 to play in the first half. Huge advantage if it can shoot like it did last night from the stripe.
— Pullin back in the game after the under-12 timeout with Clayton coming off the floor. Pullin, Aberdeen, Richard, Haugh, Condon right now for the Gators
— Florida trailing 20-14 at the media timeout with 11:56 to play in the first half. The Gators are having success from beyond the arc with three makes on six attempts but are just 1-for-6 from inside the arc. Aggies 7-for-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3. Wade Taylor has 11points.
— Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Denzel Aberdeen have checked in for Florida. Zyon Pullin, Tyrese Samuel and Micah Handlogten are off.
—Media timeout with 14:44 remaining in 1H.Texas A&M 15Florida 10.The Aggies have been red hot from the field dating back to yesterday when they put up 97 points against Kentucky. They're 5-for-10 overall and 3-for-4 from distance so far. Florida is 3-for-8, all makes 3s.
— The Aggies opened with five unanswered points before a Will Richard 3. Two Texas A&M free throws make it 7-3, though with roughly 18 minutes left in the first half.
— Florida won the opening tip but Walter Clayton missed a quick-trigger 3. Texas A&m converted from distance on the Aggies' first possession to open the scoring.
— Gators going with the same starters as usual: Zyon Pullin, Walter Clayton, Will Richard, Tyrese Samuel, Micah Handlogten
PREGAME
— Florida (23-10) is set to take on Texas A&M (20-13) on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The game will be televised on ESPN.
— The winner of Saturday's matchup will advance to the SEC championship game where they'll face Auburn, which bested Mississippi State to advance on Saturday afternoon.
— Florida was defeated 67-66 in its only regular-season meeting with the Aggies. The Gators are projected to win Saturday's rematch 78-76, according to KenPom.
CONTENT TO FOLLOW
Gators playing with something to prove, freshmen shine, Golden talks extension:https://247sports.com/college/florida/article/florida-basketball-todd-golden-contract-extension-gators-sec-tournament-bracket-standings-228748072/
Gators roar past Crimson Tide to advance to SEC semifinals:https://247sports.com/college/florida/article/florida-basketball-todd-golden-alabama-crimson-tide-nate-oats-walter-clayton-score-sec-228742809/
Everything Todd Golden said following 102-88 win over Alabama:https://247sports.com/college/florida/article/florida-basketball-todd-golden-alabama-crimson-tide-postgame-quotes-gators-highlights-228746883/
Taurean Green honored as SEC Legend in Nashville:https://247sports.com/college/florida/article/florida-basketball-taurean-green-sec-legend-tournament-march-madness-gators-228766406/
THE LATEST FROM TODD GOLDEN
On showing what Florida basketball can do, especiallyafter agreeing to a contract extension:
"Obviously it feels great. Appreciate the trust and belief that our administration has in myself and our staff, what we've built in a short period of time.Obviously last night was a tricky game. It went back and forth. But to push through was a little bit after relief.This game, to be honest, just less pressure coming into this game. Not saying complete house money, but obviously a really good opponent, a loss doesn't hurt you and a win helps you in a big way.I felt like our guys played like that after the first couple minutes, felt like it was about us, staying the course.Obviously it feel good to have a couple wins after that sign of belief in what we're building here."
On the importance ofFriday'svictory over Alabama as Florida aims to demonstrate its capabilities:
"All these games are really important, you know? I feel like last night we were getting back to it, but we weren't all the way there. A little shaky first half. Better in the second half.Once we started asserting our will on the glass in the second half, that felt like the team we'd had for the first 30 games of the regular season.Tonight, after the first two minutes, I felt like we were the team who we've been for the last 30 games. Really the last month and a half of conference play where we really stepped it up.Just a physical team that plays hard, with no fear of failure. I think our guys did a really good job of that tonight. EvenWhen we got the big lead in the second half, we never relaxed. We kept pushing it, kept staying aggressive, kept getting to the foul line, never really allowed them to make it a game."
