In a matchup of SEC division leaders, No. 14 Florida rode a dominant second half to a 78-51 rout of Alabama on Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla.

Vernon Macklin scored 19 points, and Chandler Parsons added 19 and 11 rebounds for the Gators (23-6, 12-3 SEC), who blew the game open with a 28-6 second-half run. Trevor Releford’s 17 points led the Crimson Tide (19-10, 11-4), who lost their second in a row and suffered another blow to their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes.

Florida led 39-38 five minutes into the second half, then throttled the Crimson Tide during the next nine minutes, scoring 28 of the next 34 points. Kenny Boynton’s 3-pointer with 14:52 left started the run. Parsons scored eight points in the surge, hitting two 3-pointers. Erving Walker added a pair of 3-pointers, the last one capping the run and giving the Gators a 67-44 advantage with 5:42 left.

The Crimson Tide entered third in the country in field-goal percentage defense (37.3 percent) and fourth in points allowed (58.2), but Florida shot 51.8 percent, winning for the seventh time in eight games.