NASHVILLE, Tenn.– In rationalizing the handful of double-digit leads his Florida team had blown against some very good teams over the course of the 2023-24 season, Coach Todd Golden, ever the optimist, often pointed to the fact the Gators had played well enough in those games to build such leads in the first place. He never compromised the notion there was a higher ceiling out there for this team and it was just a matter of reaching it.
Or, preferably, crashing through it.
And so there were the Gators Saturday, being pummeled by 18 late in the first half against Texas A&M, which was meeting next-to-no defensive resistance in their Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal game. Very little was going right for Golden and his team, but they refused to give in to the moment. Put another way, they never compromised. Instead, they closed ranks around their leader, banded together and staged a comeback for the ages behind a most unlikely hero.
Sophom*ore guard Denzel Aberdeen came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points – one of five UF players with at least 15 points – and ignite the sixth-seeded Gators' stirring rally and eventual 95-90 defeat of the No. 7-seed Aggies at Bridgestone Arena that earned the program its first berth in the SEC Tournament championship game in a decade.
UF (24-10), looking at a fourth game in as many days, will play fourth-seeded and 12th-ranked Auburn (26-7) in the tournament title game Sunday at 1 p.m. (ET) with hopes of bringing home just the fifth tourney championship in program history – and first since Billy Donovan's Final Four-bound 2014 team – and building momentum toward next week's NCAA Tournament, the Gators' first in three years.
Yes, Florida blew some big leads this season. No, the Gators did not let that define them. Not even close.
They learned how to erase some deficits of their own.
"Obviously, I'm thrilled with the way our team performed today. I think this was a great example of the growth of our team and our program over the last couple months," Golden said after his squad pulled off the largest come-from-behind win in UF's 57 appearances in the league tournament. "I was just really proud of the way we maintained our composure when things weren't going our way. Our belief didn't waver."
Just like his belief in his players. Aberdeen, for example.
— InAllKindsOfWeather.com (@AllKindsWeather) March 16, 2024LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
I HEREBY DECLARE THIS AS THE DENZEL ABERDEEN GAME.
THAT IS ALL. pic.twitter.com/qJDJ7pyUbr
The guy who goes by "Zell" came into the game averaging just 2.3 points and 8.8 minutes over 28 games (with five DNPs), while shooting only 36.7 percent overall and 26.9 from distance. Playing a third game since Thursday night, Golden and his staff tabbed Aberdeen, rather than Riley Kugel, as the guard who would spell his trio of starters against A&M. The 6-foot-5 combo from Orlando rewarded the trust by going six of nine from the floor, 4-for-5 from the 3-point line, made all four of his free throws and added a career-high four steals over his 23 minutes.
"My teammates always believe in me throughout practices and games," Aberdeen said. "Just saying, 'Keep going! Keep going!' Without them, this wouldn't be possible; putting me in the right spots, always believing in me, keeping my head up, just going out there and having fun. Just being ready for whenever my position is called. Go out, play hard."
Oh, he did that, all right, and Aberdeen's timing was exquisite because, frankly, his fellow guards struggled to get going and needed their backup brotherto nudge them along.
DENZEL ABERDEEN !!!!
— Will Richard (@willrxch) March 16, 2024
"We all know what Zell is capable of. He does it every day in practice and his time came today," said junior All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr., who poured in 10 of his 16 points and three of his five 3-pointers in the second half. "We needed him, he stepped up, and we appreciate him for showing out like that. That's Denzel for you. I'm glad everybody else got to see what we already knew."
Especially the Aggies, who during the month of March had won five straight games and analytically were posting overall offensive and defensive efficiency numbers that placed them in the top five in the country during that span.
A&M, which routed second-seeded and ninth-ranked Kentucky 97-87 in the quarterfinals, scored the game's first two baskets, led by nine at the midway point of the half, then used an 11-2 spurt – while the Gators were missing seven of eight field-goal tries – to jump in front 40-22 with just over five minutes left in the half. The game was not remotely competitive.
Then something changed.
"I thought the last five minutes of the first half we were a little out of sorts," Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. "Maybe a little bit longer."
It was definitely longer and it had a lot to do with Aberdeen, whose 3-pointer at the 4:16 mark was the first Florida field goal in nearly five minutes. His second 3 came with 2:28 to go and was huge in UF finishing the period on a 22-10 run that closed the lead to just eight, 50-42, at intermission.
Junior wing Will Richard, who had 19 points (with four 3s) and five rebounds, said it took his team nearly a half to figure out how the game was being played; and officiated. Eventually, 49 fouls were called and 67 free throws attempted.
"They're a physical team and I feel like we came in a little too lackadaisical," said Richard, who combined with Clayton to go 9-for-19 from distance. "For us, [it was about] getting back to what we wanted to do in offense, transition, clean rebounds, play how we play."
In the locker room, Golden challenged his players to fix a defense that surrendered 50 percent from the floor, six 3s, six offensive rebounds leading to 10 second-chance points, with All-SEC guard Wade Taylor IV finishing the period with 20 points.
"A lot of it was on me. I think at one point I gave up seven straight [points]," Clayton said. "But then we went back out in the second half and started great. Mentally, we just locked down. After that, they were the ones going uphill."
Clayton drilled a 3 just before the first media timeout to close the Gators within a point. He and Richard bombed back-to-back 3s for UF's first lead of the game with just under 14 minutes left.
Twice the Aggies retook the lead by a point and, after falling back by six, tied the game twice more, the last time at 72-all with 7:23 to go.
That's when UF hit A&M with an 8-0 run on 3s from Richard and Aberdeen sandwiched between a coast-to-coast transition bucket by All-SEC guard Zyon Pullin (15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists).
When Clayton launched and hit a corner 3-pointer in front of his bench, and was fouled, his free throw pushed the Gators in front 86-75 with 3:21 left (and sent the UF sidelines into a frenzy). It would be Florida's last made field goal of the game.
Four times in the final 2:10, the Aggies closed to within either four or five, but Pullin and Richard each knocked down pairs of free throws (they were 13 of 15 combined for the game), as UF went 9-for-10 from the line down the stretch and finished off the biggest comeback under Golden since a 19-point road rally and 76-67 win at Florida State last season.
This one was bigger. Meant more, too. Might even say it avenged the 13-point lead the Gators let slip away in their 67-66 regular-season loss at Texas A&M back on Feb. 3.
And any of the others ... if anyone even remembers them, that is.
"We feel like we can play with anybody, anywhere, beat anybody, anywhere," Golden said. "I feel like we've done a good job of continually getting better as the year's gone on. This is the right time to be playing our best basketball."
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