The Florida Gators improve to 13-9 (6-3 SEC) after defeating the No.2 ranked Tennessee Volunteers 67-54 inside the O’Connell Center.
Todd Golden’s squad found their signature win, boosting their chances of postseason play with their 2nd quad one victory of the year.
Florida’s 15-0 run within the first eight minutes of the game put Tennessee back on their heels. A fast start hasn’t been the norm for the Gators this season as Todd Golden has had to shuffle the starting lineup to try an avoid a scoring drought in the first few minutes.
The Volunteers went on a 9-2 run later in the half, allowing Tennessee to trail just six points after 20 minutes of play.
Much like the rest of the regular season, Florida’s offense picked it up in the second half, scoring 40 points after halftime.
Tennessee found themselves leading 44-38 with 10:40 to play after a questionable foul call on Florida, giving Santiago Vescovi three free throws.
The Gators answered with a 17-2 run, extending the promising lead to nine points with 5:12 to play.
A Zakai Zeigler three pointer would cut Florida’s lead to six, but that’s as close as the Volunteers would get for the remainder of the game.
Florida shot 43.8% from the field and 35% from three against the highest rated defense in college basketball. Those numbers don’t jump out at you, but the Gators did enough offensively to win the game.
The Gators’ defense showed us why they entered this game ranked 8th the country, forcing Tennessee to just 27.9% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc. The Volunteers ended the game making one of their last ten shots.
Florida’s transition defense continues to thrive, holding Tennessee to zero fast break points in the game.
Colin Castleton led the Gators in scoring with 20 points on 6-13 shooting. I thought Castleton’s shot selection was questionable for a majority of the night, but he kept at it, picking up several key and1’s down the stretch. He was also a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe on Wednesday night. Castleton added nine rebounds, three assists, and one block to the stat sheet. The 6-11 forward is best when he’s around the rim, he hasn’t had much success from midrange this season.
REBOUNDINGÂ
Rebounding is going to be a key takeaway for Florida this season. They’ll need to improve on the glass during the offseason if they want to consistently compete with the best teams in the country. Tennessee ranks #1 in the country on the offensive glass, they proved that tonight by grabbing 18 offensive rebounds to Florida’s five.
Florida will look to build off this momentum as they are set to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday at 8:30 pm inside Rupp Arena.