NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 14 University of Florida men’s basketball team clinched its third outright Southeastern Championship (fifth overall) with an 86-76 victory against No. 21/20 Vanderbilt Saturday evening at Memorial Gymnasium. With the win, the Gators became just the fourth team in school history to win at least 24 regular season games, joining the 2006-07 squad (26), and the 2002-03 and 2005-06 teams (24).
All five starters for the Orange and Blue (24-6, 13-3 SEC) scored in double figures, led by sophomore guard Kenny Boynton (Pompano Beach, Fla.), who finished with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting (4-of-9 3FG). Senior forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) notched his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with 16 points and a game-high six assists. SEC Player of the Year candidate junior forward Chandler Parsons (Casselberry, Fla.) added 13 points and seven rebounds, and senior center Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth, Va.) also had 13 points.
Hanging to a five-point lead with 3:04 remaining in the game, Florida went on a 9-4 run to end the game, highlighted by Walker’s 6-for-6 performance at the charity stripe to ice the game. The 48 points scored in the second half marked the second consecutive game the Gators accomplished the feat.
The Gators originally pulled ahead with a 20-5 run to end the first half, giving the Orange and Blue a 38-30 lead at halftime. Vanderbilt made it as close as a one-point game (54-53) with 10:48 left in the contest, before UF went on an 11-1 run over the next three minutes to build the lead back up again.
Despite Vanderbilt shooting 59.2 percent from the field (29-of-49 FG), Florida made nine more free throws (21 to 12) and outrebounded the Commodores 35-22, including a plus-12 margin on the offensive boards (15-3).
The Commodores (21-9, 9-7) were led by John Jenkins’ 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Center Festus Ezeli also paced Vanderbilt with 16 points and four rebounds.
The SEC Champions return to the court Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the quarterfinals of the 2011 SEC Tournament at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. Florida will take on either Georgia, Ole Miss, or Tennessee.
