Florida collapses in second half, drops SEC Tournament finale to Ole Miss 66-63
Sunday was not the first time the No. 11/13 Florida Gators dropped a single-digit decision this season. In fact, Florida (26-7) fell to 0-6 on the 2012-13 campaign in games decided by fewer than 10 points after it fell 66-63 in the 2013 SEC Tournament Championship to the Ole Miss Rebels (26-8).
The Gators, which were looking to sweep the SEC titles for the first time since 2006-07, led by 12 at halftime but were outscored 40-25 by the Rebels in the second half, a dominant performance by the underdogs.
Forward Murphy Holloway led Ole Miss with a fantastic performance as he scored a game-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go along with eight rebounds. Nearly equaling his impact was Rebels guard Marshall Henderson, who scored 21 points on 3-of-8 shooting from downtown and played a big part in his team’s second-half comeback from an emotional standpoint.
Unlike its semifinal game, Florida started Sunday’s final with a hot hand, hitting four of its first five shots and running its lead up to 18-6 midway through the first half on the back of four three-pointers including three from freshman G Michael Frazier II.
A 5-0 run for Ole Miss cut its deficit in half temporarily. Gators senior G Kenny Boynton responded with 11 points – including three triples – over a five-minute stretch to push UF’s lead to 14 points with less than two minutes to play in the first half.
Florida led by 12 at the break after hitting 7-of-14 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws.
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