Florida Gators Lose SEC Tourney, Face NCAA Challenge

0:00On March 18, Florida Gators coach Todd Golden would rather keep winning than use a losses motivation, but his team got a tough lesson in the SEC, tournament semi-finals. The Gators fell 74-91 against Vanderbilt on Saturday, snapping their 12-game winning streak. Despite the lopsided defeat the worst in Golden's 2-plus seasons, Florida finishes 26 wins and 7 losses as the final number 1 seed in. The NCAA tournament, the Gators opened Friday at 9.25pm in Tampa against either Prairie View or Lehigh, the winners of a play-in game. Both those teams earned automatic bids with recent tournament runs, but they ranked low in key analytics, making them favorable match-ups for Florida. Golden praised his team's spirit after the loss, but pointed to Rush Play. Nine first half turnovers and weak defense that led Vanderbilt shoot over. Still, he stressed no drop in confidence, saying Vanderbilt simply outfought them that day. Looking ahead, a second round clash awaits against the winner of number 8, Clemson or

1:04number 9, Iowa on Sunday. Clemson brings tough defense despite a key injury, while Iowa excels offensively with a star-point guard, though Florida's nation-leading rebounding could dominate inside. With a national title defense on the line, Golden believes his squad can rebound quickly and push deep into March Madness once again.