KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — This time there was no miracle finish for the Florida Gators. Winners of their last four games including one on a last-second shot by Chandler Parsons, the Gators got the last shot up again Sunday afternoon but this time it didn’t go down, allowing the 14th-ranked Tennessee Vols to take a 61-60 Southeastern Conference victory at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Trailing 61-60 after a Scotty Hopson jumper from the right wing with 16.6 seconds to go, the Gators had a chance to pull off the win when Erving Walker dribbled through the Tennessee defense to the left wing and got an entry pass in the low blocks to Alex Tyus. Tyus spun and banked the ball off the glass but the shot hung on the rim and wouldn’t go down. The ball caromed off the hands of Vernon Macklin and into Hopson’s hands preserving the win for the Vols.
The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Vols (16-4, 4-2 SEC East) and ended Florida’s longest SEC winning streak (four league wins in a row) since 2007. The Gators, 15-6 overall and 4-3 in the SEC East, return to action Thursday night in Tuscaloosa against Alabama.
It was Parsons who had put the Gators into a position to win the game with 29.1 seconds remaining when he drilled a three-pointer straight on over Wayne Chism to put the Gators ahead 60-59, but on Tennessee’s possession, the Vols worked the ball inside out and got the ball to Hopson, wide open on the right wing against the Florida zone for what proved to be the game-winner.
The loss was Florida’s sixth straight to Tennessee, dating back to the 2007 season. Florida hasn’t won a game at Thompson-Boling Arena since 2004.
The Gators seemed poised to break the losing streak by making the Vols pay for their gamble to take both Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton out of the game. Walker and Boynton came into the game averaging more than 28 points overall and better than 35 a game in the last four SEC wins. Without their normal outside firepower, the Gators focused on getting the ball inside to Macklin and Tyus and the result was leads of as many as 10 points in the first half.
Florida’s biggest advantage was at 34-24 with 1:14 left in the first half when Boynton sneaked into the lane and squeezed off a 10-footer but the Vols closed out the half scoring the last four points to cut Florida’s margin to six (34-28) at the break.
The Gators got out of the blocks slowly to start the second half, giving up a three to Chism and a driving layup by J.P. Prince to cut the lead down to 34-33 with 18:51 left in the game. Florida regrouped to stretch the lead back to four (39-35) on a Tyus tip-in with 16:17 to go but the Vols went on a 10-1 run to take a 45-40 lead on an alley-oop lob from Cameron Tatum to Hopson with 10:35 remaining.
Florida regained the lead (46-45) with 8:26 to go when Walker hit a pair of free throws and after an exchange of baskets, the Vols knocked down threes on successive possessions (Skylar McBee and Orlando Woolridge) to go back ahead by five, 53-48.
The Gators trailed, 55-50, when Tyus was fouled on a dunk and hit the free throw with 4:13 to go. After Kenny Hall missed two free throws for the Vols, the Gators had a chance to tie the game with 2:45 to go but Parsons managed only 1-2 from the foul line, narrowing the margin to one.
After Chism scored on a driving layup with 2:12 to go to increase Tennessee’s lead to 57-54, Parsons was fouled by J.P. Prince attempting a three-pointer. Parsons hit the first of his three foul shots, but drew iron on the next two. However, he atoned for the misses with a driving scoop shot with 1:01 left that tied the game at 57-57.
Tennessee countered by getting the ball down low to Chism, who drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to give the Vols a 59-57 lead. That set up Parsons to be a hero once again and he responded with a three-point dagger that gave the Gators the lead with 29.1 seconds to go.
The Gators actually outshot the Vols from the field (23-48 for 47.9 percent to Tennessee’s 25-65 for 38.5 percent) but it was the Gators’ inability to knock down threes and protect the ball that did them in. Florida was only 4-16 from the three-point line while the Vols were 7-23. The Gators turned the ball over 17 times with Walker uncharacteristically finishing the game with more turnovers (6) than assists (4).
Walker, who was 23-37 on three-balls in SEC play coming into the game, hit his first three-point shot but missed the next five. He finished the game with nine points. Boynton was 0-5 on threes, finishing the game with only four points.
Tyus led Florida with 18 points, hitting 7-11 from the field and 4-5 from the foul line while grabbing seven rebounds. Thanks to the late flurry when the Gators needed points, Parsons finished with 14 points and a Gator-high eight rebounds.
The Vols got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Chism, 12 points and seven rebounds from Prince and 10 points from Hopson.
TENNESSEE 61, FLORIDA 60
At Summitt Court/Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.
FLORIDA (60) – Kenny Boynton 2-11 0-0 4, Chandler Parsons 5-6 2-5 14, Erving Walker 3-9 2-2 9, Alex Tyus 7-11 4-5 18, Vernon Macklin 3-5 1-2 7, Ray Shipman 1-3 0-0 2, Dan Werner 1-2 0-0 3, Erik Murphy 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 23-48 10-16 60.
Field-goal shooting: 23 of 48 for 47.9 percent. 3-point shooting: 4 of 16 for 25 percent (Parsons 2-3, Werner 1-1, Walker 1-6, Boynton 0-5, Shipman 0-1). Free-throw shooting: 10 of 16 for 62.5 percent. Points off turnovers: 21. Second-chance points: 7. Rebounds: 32 (Parsons 8, Tyus 7, Macklin 5). Assists: 11 (Walker 4, Boynton 3). Blocked shots: 3 (Boynton, Tyus, Macklin). Steals: 5 (Murphy 2). Turnovers: 17 (Walker 6, Boynton 4). Total fouls (fouled out): 13 (none).
TENNESSEE (61) – Renaldo Woolridge 1-3 0-0 3, Bobby Maze 2-8 0-0 4, Wayne Chism 7-16 3-4 16, J.P. Prince 6-10 0-1 12, Scotty Hopson 5-14 0-1 10, Melvin Goins 0-4 0-0 0, Steven Pearl 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Tatum 3-4 0-0 8, Skylar McBee 2-4 0-0 6, Kenny Hall 0-1 1-6 1. Totals: 25-65 4-12 61.
Field-goal shooting: 25 of 65 for 38.5 percent. 3-point shooting: 7 of 23 for 30.4 percent (Tatum 2-3, McBee 2-4, Chism 1-3, Woolridge 1-3, Maze 1-4, Prince 0-2, Hopson 0-2, Goins 2). Free-throw shooting: 4 of 12 for 33.3 percent. Points off turnovers: 11. Second-chance points: 14. Rebounds: 41 (Chism 11, Prince 7, Tatum 5). Assists: 15 (Chism 3, Tatum 3). Blocked shots: 3 (Chism 2). Steals: 10 (Pearl 4, Goins 3). Turnovers: 14 (Tatum 3, Prince 3). Total fouls (fouled out): 14 (Chism 3, Prince 3).
Halftime: Florida 34, Tennessee 28. Officials: Tony Greene, John Cahill, Anthony Jordan. Attendance: 21,208. Records: Florida 15-6. 4-3 SEC East; Tennessee 16-4, 4-2 SEC East.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
For the latest standings, click below:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/conferences/standings?confID=23
Saturday, Jan. 30
No. 1 Kentucky 85, No. 23 Vanderbilt 72
Mississippi State 67, Louisiana State 51
South Carolina 78, Georgia 77
Auburn 58, Alabama 57
Arkansas at No. 20 Mississippi, ppd. (weather) to Monday
Sunday, Jan. 31
Tennessee 61, Florida 60
Arkansas at No. 20 Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 2
Mississippi at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 3
Arkansas at Georgia, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi State at Vanderbilt, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Thursday, Feb. 4
Florida at Alabama, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Tennessee at Louisiana State, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, Feb. 6
Mississippi State at Florida, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Auburn at Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Louisiana State, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Mississippi, 6 p.m. (FSN)
South Carolina at Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Vanderbilt at Georgia, 8 p.m. (FSN)
Tuesday, Feb. 9
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Alabama at Kentucky, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Florida at South Carolina, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Louisiana State at Arkansas, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Georgia at Auburn, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Thursday, Feb. 11
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, Feb. 13
Xavier at Florida, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Louisiana State at Vanderbilt, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Arkansas at Alabama, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
South Carolina at Georgia, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Auburn at Mississippi State, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Tennessee at Kentucky, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Feb. 16
Kentucky at Mississippi State, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 17
Georgia at Tennessee, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
South Carolina at Arkansas, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Thursday, Feb. 18
Auburn at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Vanderbilt at Mississippi, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, Feb. 20
Florida at Mississippi, 12 p.m. (CBS)
Tennessee at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Georgia, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Arkansas at Auburn, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Tuesday, Feb. 23
Tennessee at Florida, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Auburn at Mississippi, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Mississippi State, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Thursday, Feb. 25
Georgia at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
South Carolina at Kentucky, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, Feb. 27
Florida at Georgia, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Tennessee, 12 p.m. (CBS)
Vanderbilt at Arkansas, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Mississippi at Alabama, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Mississippi State at South Carolina, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Louisiana State at Auburn, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Tuesday, March 2
Vanderbilt at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, March 3
Alabama at South Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Arkansas at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Mississippi State at Auburn, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Georgia, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Thursday, March 4
Louisiana State at Mississippi, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 6
Auburn at Alabama, 1:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Mississippi at Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Georgia at Louisiana State, 5 p.m. (FSN)
Tennessee at Mississippi State, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, March 7
Florida at Kentucky, 12 p.m. (CBS)
SEC TOURNAMENT
At Sommet Center, Nashville, Tenn.
Thursday, March 11
Game, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 2, 3:15 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 3, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 4, 9:45 p.m. (SEC Network)
Friday, March 12
Game 5, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 6, 3:15 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 7, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 8, 9:45 p.m. (SEC Network)
Saturday, March 13
Game 9, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Game 10, 3:15 p.m. (ABC)
Sunday, March 14
Game 11, Championship, 1 p.m. (ABC)