Down 18, Florida storms past Texas A&M to reach SEC final

Field Level Media|published: Sat 16th March, 18:45 2024

Texas A&M Aggies forward Henry Coleman III (15) sets a pick on Florida Gators guard Zyon Pullin (0) to free up Texas A&M Aggies guard Tyrece Radford (23) during their SEC Men's Basketball Tournament semifinal game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 16, 202 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 16, 2024. credits: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Denzel Aberdeen came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points and Florida erased an 18-point first-half deficit to defeat Texas A&M 95-90 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

The sixth-seeded Gators (24-10) will play fourth-seeded Auburn on Sunday for the tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In Saturday's first semifinal, the Tigers outlasted No. 9 seed Mississippi State 73-66.

The seventh-seeded Aggies (20-14) will wait to see if they land one of the last at-large bids to the 68-team field, which will be announced Sunday. Saturday's result snapped a five-game winning streak, including Friday night's 97-87 upset of second-seeded Kentucky, that put Texas A&M back on the NCAA bubble.

Will Richard added 19 for Florida, hitting four 3-pointers and going 7 of 8 at the foul line. Walter Clayton added five of the Gators' 14 3-pointers and finished with 16 points, while Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin each tallied 15.

Wade Taylor fired in a game-high 30 points for the Aggies, connecting on six 3-pointers for the second straight game. Tyrece Radford and Solomon Washington (10 rebounds) each added 18 points, while Manny Obaseki chipped in 12 points before fouling out.

Texas A&M led 40-22 with 5:20 left in the first half after Taylor drained a 3-pointer. But Florida used the final five-plus minutes of the half to chip away at the big deficit. Aberdeen scored 10 points in less than two minutes as the Gators fought back to within 50-42 at intermission.

Clayton hit a 3-pointer with 13:51 remaining in the game to put Florida ahead 59-58, its first lead of the day. Aberdeen canned two foul shots at the 7:37 mark to give the Gators a 72-70 lead. Texas A&M tied it at 72-72, but never went ahead again.

Clayton converted a four-point play with 3:21 left to up Florida's advantage to 86-75. The Aggies rallied within four points three times in the final two minutes but the Gators held them off by canning seven of eight free throws.

—Field Level Media

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