Gators Gets Much-Needed Marquee Win Taking Down #2 Tennessee

After searching much of the season for a marquee win that could sit at the top of the NCAA Tournament resume the Florida Gators finally have it, taking down the #2 ranked Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 67-54. Florida got the jump on Tennessee going up 17-4 in the opening minutes and nursed the lead for much of the game, ultimately coming away with a double-digit win after they got to salt the game away with free throws. The impact of this win can’t be overstated for a Florida team that was truly desperate for a quad-1 “A” win, and this gets them back into the NCAA Tournament picture in a way that they weren’t entering the game.

 

Defensive Identity Continues

 

Florida’s identity is on the defensive side of the ball where they take immense pride and that was on full display on Wednesday as they kept the Vols to 54 points on only 28% shooting. Much of the credit goes to Florida’s starting perimeter quartet of Kyle Lofton, Myreon Jones, Riley Kugel, and Will Richard who completely frustrated the guards of Tennessee. Zakai Zeigler was 6-19 from the field, Santiago Vescovi was 2-12, and Josiah-Jordan James was 2-11, all having inefficient games. Florida’s interior players also deserve credit for banging down low with the muscular, physical centers on Tennessee’s roster. All together the Gators were able to get things done on inside and outside defensively which resulted in a truly outstanding performance. Florida is continuing to prove that they’re one of the top defensive teams in the country and when they clamp down like this they’ll be able to stay in a lot of games. 

 

Leading The Way Once Again

 

In his third season as a Gator, Colin Castleton has had a lot of battles with Tennessee and often these games have gotten chippy and physical. You could tell that he had this one circled on the calendar and he played like the best version of himself finishing with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists, leading the way for his team. Much of his work came on the low block where he slipped by Tennessee’s bulkier big men, and you could tell with every made bucket he was getting more and more energized on the defensive end where his production might have been even better than on the offensive side of things. For the Gators to beat elite teams they need Castleton to play like the All-SEC player he is, and on Wednesday he absolutely delivered.

 

Out Of Time Out Plays

 

Florida’s offense has been a story for much of the season, and not for a positive reason, but on Wednesday they were able to get some key buckets due to some excellent execution on out of time out plays. Time outs are an opportunity to draw up a play you might not normally run and Todd Golden used these opportunities to draw up different counters to regular plays in their offense and it resulted in multiple easy buckets. With how much the Gators struggle every easy bucket they can muster is huge and Golden and his staff deserve credit for how they executed in these moments. After having success with these set plays, hopefully the Gators can start having more success with their regular offense.

 

Final Thoughts

 

The Gators aren’t out of the woods yet when it comes to their shaky NCAA Tournament resume but this win is a gigantic step towards reaching their goals. Until Wednesday the biggest hole on Florida’s resume was an elite win, and beating the #2 team by double digits (that’s #2 in both the AP Poll and the NET rankings, mind you) gives them the marquee win they needed. They’ll still need to put together some more quality wins and avoid a bad loss, but this was a huge step in the right direction. 



Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.

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