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Mississippi 66, No. 11 Florida 63: Marshall Henderson scored 18 of his 21 points after the break as the third-seeded Rebels used a big second half to knock off the Gators and win their first SEC tournament championship since 1981.

Murphy Holloway collected 23 points and 10 rebounds and Reginald Buckner scored 11 for Mississippi (26-8), which earned an automatic berth to its first NCAA Tournament since 2002.

Mike Rosario scored 18 points and Kenny Boynton chipped in 13 as No. 1 seed Florida (26-7) fell just short of its first SEC tournament title since 2007.

The Gators took a 53-52 lead on Erik Murphy’s 3-pointer with 8:58 left, but Mississippi responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Henderson that forced a Florida timeout. The Gators battled back and had a chance to tie in the final seconds but Boynton‘s 3-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer.

Florida led 18-6 after the first nine minutes of the game and went up by as much as 14 points late in the first half before settling for a 38-26 edge at the break. The Rebels turned things around with a 10-3 run to begin the second half and took their first lead when Henderson was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 12:16 left and knocked down all three from the line.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida shot 37.3 percent and struggled on the interior, where the starting front line of Murphy and Patric Young combined to go 4-of-14 from the floor. … Holloway went 11-for-14 but missed a free throw that would have sealed it with eight seconds left. … The Gators’ bench outscored the Rebels’ 13-2.