NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 5/8 Alabama men’s basketball team dropped a 104-82 decision to No. 4/4 Florida in the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal game on Saturday night in Bridgestone Arena.

The Crimson Tide (25-8) had four players reach double figures led by Mouhamed Dioubate’s fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Chris Youngblood led Alabama with 14 points while Clifford Omoruyi had 12 and Jarin Stevenson added 10. 

The Gators (29-4) were led by Walter Clayton Jr.’s 22 points and six assists as he topped six players in double digits.

Head Coach Nate Oats Postgame Comments

“To win this tournament, we had to be the toughest team on the floor and we were not today. Florida is a very good team. I thought they made a lot of tough plays starting right out of the gate in the second half, with all of the offensive rebounds in the first possession. I didn’t think we competed hard enough on the rebounds. We didn’t do a good enough job on defense. We started the second half on a Florida 17-5 run in the first five and a half minutes, which is not what you would expect out of this group to start the second half. We are going to have to regroup and see how bad we want to try to make a run again in the NCAA tournament this year. We will find out where we get sent and where we are going starting tomorrow. We will try to regroup and we did a pretty good job of regrouping last year. I think we can make another run this year.”

Team Stats

• Alabama lost to Florida in the SEC Tournament for the second consecutive season, as the Gators defeated the Tide 102-88 on March 15, 2024
• The Gators held a 12-4 edge in points off turnovers, forcing the Tide into 10 miscues
• Florida also controlled the paint, outrebounding Alabama 43-38 and owning a 42-34 edge in points in the paint
• UA finished the contest just 10-of-22 on layups
• The 104 points scored against Alabama was a league tournament record for points scored in a game

First Half 

• The opening stanza featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes with neither team leading by more than six points
• The Crimson Tide was led by Grant Nelson and Jarin Stevenson’s nine points while Mark Sears added seven points and three assists
• The opening minutes of the game was back-and-forth as the game featured eight ties and five lead changes through the opening eight-plus minutes
• Florida took a 47-45 lead into the locker rooms

Second Half

• After holding a two-point lead at the intermission, the second-seeded Gators outscored the Crimson Tide 57-37 over the final 20 minutes of play
• With Alabama clinging to a 48-47 lead, the Gators made the first move with a 17-2 run that lasted nearly four minutes to take a 64-50 lead with 14:41 remaining
• From there, the Tide would not get any closer than 14 points
• The Tide struggled from the floor in the half, shooting just 34 percent (11-of-32), 33 percent (6-of-18) and 75 percent (9-of-12) from beyond the arc
• In comparison, the Gators shot 56 percent (19-of-34) from the floor, 50 percent (6-of-12) from the arc and 68 percent (13-of-19) from the line

Up Next

• Selection Sunday for the 2025 NCAA Tournament will air live at 5 p.m. CT on CBS