NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Micah Handlogten patiently waited his turn for one of the two cold tubs in the Florida locker room Saturday. After a good, icy soaking, the 7-foot-1 junior center was all smiles, but there was something extra to his good spirits in the celebratory aftermath of fourth-ranked Florida’s 104-82 thumping of fifth-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals. 
 

It was, of course, here last year that Handlogten suffered a horrific compound fracture in the opening minutes of the tournament championship game against Auburn, a moment that shook a red-hot UF team to its core. After Handlogten was taken off the Bridgestone Arena floor on a stretcher, the Gators had to deal with tears and Tigers, and it wasn’t a good combination. Auburn won going away. 
 
Fast forward to present day. This is why Handlogten opted out of his medical redshirt season 24 games into the 2024-25 campaign. For the wins, the feels and, yes, the ice baths.
 
“I don’t want to be known as the guy who broke his leg in the SEC championship game,” Handlogten said. “I want to be known as one of the guys who helped his team win a SEC championship.”
 
Now he and the Gators get another chance to play for one. 
 
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 22 points, banging a half-dozen 3s and dishing six assists without a turnover to lead all scorers. Clayton’s perimeter partners, Alijah Martin and Will Richard, each scored 16 points, while center Rueben Chinyelu had his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes. Sophomore forward Thomas Haugh had 11 points off the bench, as UF ripped the defenseless Crimson Tide for 52-percent shooting, 12 3-pointers, 42 points in the paint and the most points ever scored in a SEC Tournament game. 
 
And Handlogten? He was superb in scoring four points, grabbing 10 boards and blocking a shot in just 14 minutes, as the Gators (29-4), winners of five straight and 11 of previous 12, advanced to Sunday’s tournament title game to face sixth-ranked Tennessee (27-6), which eliminated regular-season conference champ Auburn in the other semifinal. UF and UT split two games during the regular season, each winning lopsided outcomes on their home floor.

With another statement victory Saturday, Florida, without a doubt, will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is revealed Sunday night. The only question now is whether the Gators will be one of the two highest No. 1 seeds?
 
“It’s a great win for our program. I thought our guys did an incredible job just competing for 40 minutes,” said UF coach Todd Golden, whose squad will be seeking the program’s first SEC Tournament crown since 2014 and the fifth in its history. “I simply think our depth wore them out in in the second half, proved out in the second half.” 
 
The Gators’ defense did, also. Alabama (25-8), a Final Four team last season, came into the game as the SEC’s top-rated offense (fourth nationally), shooting 48.5% on the season – nearly 60% from the 2-point area – and 35.1% from the arc. Florida’s defense, which came in No. 2 in the league and ninth nationally, limited the Crimson Tide to 41.8% overall, 31.4% from distance and nine points below their season scoring average of 91.4. 
 
After a back-and-forth first half with both teams shooting well over 50%, UF trailed by a point early in the second half, but used a stunning nine-minute, 32-11 run of precision basketball on both ends of the floor to break the game open. The Tide had no answers.
 
“We want to be the hardest-playing, toughest team on the floor,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We were not today, particularly in the second half.”

With less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Florida led by 21 points and Alabama was shooting 19 percent for the period.  
 
Said Richard: “We tried to make them uncomfortable, make them take tough shots.” 
 
Mission accomplished. Bama’s All American point guard Mark Sears, the league’s No. 3 scorer at 18.7 points per game coming in, finished with nine points, went three of 10 from the floor and missed all four of his 3s. The Tide lost 6-11 forward Grant Nelson, their second-leading scorer and top rebounder, to a knee injury in the first half and ended up doing a lot of settling for those tough shots rather than attacking UF’s considerable length inside. 
 
“We played collectively as a team, playing defense, doing what we had to do,” Chinyelu said. “Just making sure all communication was on point. That’s what gave us the edge.” 

That and offense, which UF played exceptionally yet again in beating Bama for a fourth consecutive game, dating back to last season. The Gators were excellent in both halves, shooting 51.4% in the first and chasing that with 55.9 percent during a 57-point second period capped by a driving basket from walk-on Bennett Andersen that sent the UF sidelines into delirium.
 
Along the way, Clayton was tremendous, further justifying his first-team All-America status, the first to be so honored in program history. 
 
“I just hope people understand how gifted and talented he is and how much of a winner he is,” Golden said. “The guy has been a starting point guard on a 29-win team and playing an incredible floor game. … Again, playing like the best point guard in America, right now.”

On a team that just might be playing like the best in America, right now. 

“I can’t explain to you how much I want to win it,” Clayton said. 

 

That pretty much explains it. 

And this is why Handlogten came back. 

 

‘It’s the best feeling in the world, but it can get so much better,” Handlogten said. “We want to keep playing, keep the wheels turning, and we have the team to do it.”

 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu