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Florida Gators win at SEC tournament, next face Kentucky Wildcats

 
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, shooting over Justin Coleman, leads Florida with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, shooting over Justin Coleman, leads Florida with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Published March 13, 2015

NASHVILLE — Dorian Finney-Smith helped extend Florida's rollercoaster season another day. The reward? An SEC tournament quarterfinal game today against top-ranked and unbeaten Kentucky, which already has defeated Florida twice this season.

The Gators advanced thanks to their junior forward's all-around play. Finney-Smith had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Florida overcame a slow start to make nine 3-pointers and beat Alabama 69-61 on Thursday. Finney-Smith made 4 of 9 3s to help the Gators shake off an eight-point first half deficit and eventually build a double-digit lead in the second half.

How do the Gators feel about facing Kentucky, which beat UF 68-61 in Gainesville last month and 67-50 last Saturday in Lexington? "We're just excited to be playing again," said guard Michael Frazier, who scored five on 1-for-10 shooting. "Right now, that's all we have."

What does Kentucky think? "It just comes down to executing," Wildcats freshman guard Devin Booker said. "I'm sure they (the Gators) still have that loss on their heads, so I feel like they're going to come out harder."

Besides grabbing nearly a third of the Gators' rebounds as they won that category 35-24, Finney-Smith had six of their 12 offensive boards that were four times what Alabama had.

Finney-Smith credited his performance to "just coming out and playing with a lot of energy. I knew if we get in a scramble offensively, that gives me a chance to offensive rebound."

No. 8 seed Florida (16-16) kept its season alive with its bench shutting out Alabama 22-0 and outscoring the Tide 14-4 in second-chance points and 11-5 off turnovers thanks to just six miscues. The Gators completed a season sweep of Alabama and won for the third time in the past four.

Eli Carter added 11 points and Devin Robinson 10 for the Gators, who shot 43 percent and were 9 of 29 from 3-point range.

Florida coach Billy Donovan didn't seem too bothered by those 20 misses from behind the arc because of the ball movement that created the chances.

"I thought we moved the ball pretty well," he said. "I felt like offensively, we had been getting better. I thought we had some really good shots from the 3-point line that didn't go down."

Jimmie Taylor and Levi Randolph each scored 15 for No. 9 seed Alabama (18-14), which was close early in the second half but couldn't stop Florida's perimeter shooting or rebounding edge.

Tide coach Anthony Grant remains winless against Florida, the only SEC school the former Gator assistant hasn't beaten, and Alabama dropped its 11th straight to the Gators.

Auburn 66, Texas A&M 59: KT Harrell scored 25 and the 13th-seeded Tigers (14-19), inspired by a halftime berating from coach Bruce Pearl, rallied from 10 down at halftime to upset the fifth-seeded Aggies (20-11). "BP just came in the locker room mad, so when he gets mad, it's time to go," Cinmeon Bowers said. Auburn has won consecutive tournament games for the first time since 2000. "This becomes the third team in 30 years of Auburn basketball history to win a couple games and advance in the tournament," Pearl said. "Maybe that's not something you want to brag about. But those are the facts, and those facts matter to these guys right here." Texas A&M has lost three straight and four of the last five, likely dooming its NCAA Tournament hopes.

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Tennessee 67, Vandy 61: Josh Richardson scored 15 of his 22 in the second half, and the 10th-seeded Vols (16-15) beat the seventh-seeded Commodores (19-13). The in-state rivals hadn't played each other in the tournament since 1987. Vanderbilt hit one of its final 10 shots and had five turnovers down the stretch. Damian Jones had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Vandy.