No. 9 Florida 66, Vanderbilt 40: Kenny Boynton scored 15 points as the host Gators used suffocating defense to clinch the SEC’s regular-season championship.

Florida (24-5, 14-3 SEC) held Vanderbilt (13-16, 7-10) to 14 first-half points, then blew open the game in the final 12 minutes to win its fourth SEC regular-season crown. Patric Young added 14 points and Erik Murphy scored 10 for the Gators, who will be the top seed in next week’s SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

The Commodores closed to within 37-29 with 12:19 remaining. Florida scored 19 of the next 22 points, and Scottie Wilbekin’s 3-pointer with 6:46 remaining pushed the Gators’ advantage to 56-32.

Vanderbilt had no answer for a Florida offense that shot 48.9 percent from the field, 84.6 percent from the free-throw line and hit 9 of 18 3-point attempts.

Kedren Johnson scored 10 of Vanderbilt’s first-half points, finishing with 15. The Commodores hit just five field goals in the opening 20 minutes as the Gators led 24-14 at intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida finished its home schedule 15-0. … The Gators have beaten Vanderbilt in five of the past six meetings. … Florida has held opponents to 40 or fewer points four times this season.