Erik Murphy led four Florida players in double-figures with 15 points and added eight rebounds, as the eighth-ranked Gators rallied in the second half to take a 64-52 decision over Alabama in a late-season SEC battle.

Kenny Boynton scored 13 points and moved into second place on the all-time Florida scoring list for the Gators (23-5, 13-3 SEC), who bounced back from a loss at Tennessee on Tuesday and remain atop the conference standings.

"We just had to keep playing, keep pushing," Murphy said. "We knew this game was going to be a grind-it-out game."

Trevor Releford had 12 points for the Crimson Tide (19-10, 11-5), who could have tied Florida for the top spot in the SEC with a win, but instead lost for the second time in three games. Nick Jacobs and Trevor Lacey each had 11 points and five rebounds in defeat.

Alabama knotted things up at 33-33 just five minutes into the second half and didn't let up. The Crimson Tide went on a 12-4 burst, capped by Releford's tough fast break lay-in, which made it 45-37 with 12:23 remaining.

Just when it looked like the Crimson Tide's surge was too much, the Gators answered with a 19-2 run. Two Casey Prather free throws gave Florida a 48-47 lead with 7:48 to play, and Prather's spin move lay-in brought the O-Dome faithful to their feet for a 54-47 advantage before two Patric Young free throws capped the game-changing outburst.

Jacobs made one free throw a minute later to bring 'Bama within 56-48, ending a scoreless drought that lasted nearly seven minutes. The Tide followed with a layup by Andrew Steele to pull within six and turned it over with a chance to trim its deficit even further.

Back-to-back fast break layups by Boynton and Scottie Wilbekin helped Florida secure the victory in the final minute.

"It's always going to be a 40 minute game," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "We wanted to stay the course, not play too fast or play too slow, and that helped us to get the lead; but a team as good as Florida will know how to respond to that."

Florida held an early 19-8 edge, until 'Bama chipped its way back to get within 24-22 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.

The Gators led 29-26 at the break, despite being outscored 18-10 on points in the paint and 14-2 in bench points.

"I thought our team was emotionally drained," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "I thought we were exhausted. I thought we were a step slow. I thought we were distracted. I thought we became easily frustrated. ... To me, the SEC championship is a byproduct of doing things the right way. We've deviated from who we are. We've got to get back to that."

Game Notes