NASHVILLE, Tenn. – He had not yet taken his turn climbing the post-game ladder for the ceremonial net-cutting. Walter Clayton Jr. was busy hugging teammates and mugging for selfies when he finally was handed the scissors and scaled the steps to clip his souvenir from above the floor of Bridgestone Arena. 

When he was done, the Florida point guard, first-team All American, alpha male and stone-cold on-court killer hopped off the ladder and uttered four words that surely were music to every Gator fan’s ears, from the Music City and beyond. 

“Six more to go,” Clayton declared to anyone in earshot. 

That’s a conversation for another day. As in Monday and Tuesday and every day the rest of the week until the Gators (30-4), the No. 1 seed in the West Region, prepare to play Norfolk State (24-10) in first-round play of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

But Sunday afternoon on the confetti-littered court – and later on the joyous, rollicking flight home – was about celebrating the 86-77 victory over sixth-ranked Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. Clayton was again the headliner, scoring 22 points and draining four 3-pointers, with a couple late daggers, in leading four other teammates into double-figure scoring. But in keeping with UF’s season-long theme, this was another incredible, all-around team triumph and was pulled off before a hostile Big Orange-dominated crowd that could not break the unbreakable, unflappable, undeterred boys from Florida. 

“Just incredibly proud of our program,” UF coach Todd Golden said after becoming just the second coach in UF history (joining Hall-of-Famer Billy Donovan) to guide the team to a SEC Tournament title. “They’ve done an incredible job all year just being coachable and unselfish. We knew early on in the year we had really good talent, but the thing that separates us is our unselfishness, our willingness to put the greater good of the program in front of ourselves.”

It was all on display with hardware on the line. Clayton’s standout senior perimeter mates, Will Richard and Alijah Martin, scored 17 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Alex Condon posted 13 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Thomas Haugh came off the bench to score 11 points and grab six boards, including five on the offensive end, as UF out-rebounded UT, 39-25, including 15-5 on the offensive end, and never relented to the Volunteers’ renowned physical style of play.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was impressed

“I think they’ve got the best front line in college basketball,” he said. “You look at their depth. Not many teams have that. They’ve used it well. I think those guys really understand what they need to do, how they need to play. They’ve got experience, but they’ve got quality depth. They’re big, mobile, agile and do their jobs.”

Though they only shot 42.6 percent against the top-rated defense in the SEC (and third-best in the country), the Gators attacked the Volunteers (27-7) in the paint and got to the free-throw line 28 times, where they converted at 89.3 percent, including 19 of 22 during a second half when the Vols – and their bombastic, partisan home crowd – battled to make a comeback. The Gators guarded well enough (44.9%) and withstood UT’s equally strong marksmanship at the free-throw line (21 of 25 after halftime) with enough winning plays to make history. The good kind. 

UF now has five SEC Tournament championships (2005-07, ’14 and ’25) and its first basketball title of any kind since the Scottie Wilbekin-, Patric Young-led crew won the conference regular season and tourney 11 years ago on the way to the Final Four.

This group wants desperately to get there, too. Its trend line has been remarkable.

Two years ago, Golden’s first on the UF sideline, the Gators finished 16-17 and exited the SEC tournament after one game, settling for a National Invitational bid. Last year, Florida went 24-12, reached the SEC Tournament championship, but got drummed by Auburn, then knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round. But in ’24-25, Golden’s third version of Gators has now amassed more wins going into NCAA play than all but one team (2014) in program history. 

And the seniors have led the way.

“What makes it so special is just the journey from me and Coach’s first year to what we’ve been able to do now,” said Richard, who in 2022 was the first player to commit to Golden, the unknown coach from the University of San Francisco with whom he shared the podium Sunday in hoisting a conference championship trophy. “It’s a testament to all the work we’ve put in. It’s good to see it come to fruition … and we know we’ve still got a lot more ball to play.” 

They wanted to embark on that next championship quest with this SEC one tucked away, but had to deal with some dicey moments to make it happen. As it should be. 

It was the third meeting between the two teams. The first came Jan. 7 when the Vols came to Gainesville unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation. They left with a 73-43 blowout loss that marked the largest margin of defeat for a team ranked first in the Associated Press poll since 1968. The second meeting was Feb. 1 at Knoxville, where Tennessee returned the favor with a 64-44 mauling, as Florida scored its second-fewest points of the 38-year shot-clock era. 

So this was the tiebreaker, and at a neutral site that was anything but. The Gators, now winners of six straight and 12 of the last 13, were up to the challenge. 

They broke open a 16-all game with a 16-4 run late in the first half to go up 12. UT cut the margin in half, but Gators junior guard Denzel Aberdeen (9 points) dropped a 3-pointer from about 25 feet at the halftime buzzer to send his team to the locker room up 39-30.

The lead was seven 30 seconds into the second half when Clayton hit a 3 to start a mini-run of 9-3 that pushed the Gators in front by 13 with 16 minutes to go. That was still the margin at the 10-minute mark until UT guard Jordan Gainey (game-high 24 points) went on an 8-0 run by himself to make it a five-point game inside nine minutes, with the crowd going next level.

A couple Richard free throws (he went 8-for-8 from the line) stopped that UT surge, but the Vols, behind point guard Zakai Zeigler’s 23 points, eight assists and three steals, kept coming. Three more times they got within five. Florida’s answers to each looked this: 

• Clayton 3-pointer
• Two Clayton free throws
• Clayton 3-pointer

The margin was six when the Gators finally got a “kill” – three consecutive defensive stops – and scored after each; first with free throws and a 3 by Haugh, then two more Richard free throws. The latter capped a run of eight straight points and took the lead to a game-high 14 with four minutes left. 

From there, it was mostly a free-throw fest to the finish until UF broke through Tennessee’s full-court pressure, Condon fired a pass to Haugh who lobbed a perfect alley-oop pass that Martin flushed for the orange-and-blue exclamation point. 

The party began on the Florida sideline, highlighted by the sight of Associate Head Coach Carlin Hartman sharing a one-year-in-the-making emotional embrace with junior center Micah Handlogten, who suffered a broken leg on the same floor in the ’24 title game. They both sobbed together last year. They did so again this year as SEC champs. 

“What a scene!” beamed Martin to no one in particular.

Oh, and so much for the buzz about Florida potentially losing a coveted No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament had they not prevailed in this game. Instead, the Gators made a statement. 

A loud, but non-verbal one.

“Humbly, I don’t think we have to say anything,” Clayton smiled afterward. 

Fair enough. But there’s still six more to go.

“We’re a hungry group and we know the main goal,” Richard said. “This is definitely a motivator. Cutting down the nets is a great feeling, but we want to do it at the NCAA Tournament, as well.”

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