Tennessee beats Florida in a program defining performance
The Tennessee Basketball Volunteers pulled off a significant win on Saturday afternoon, defeating the 5th-ranked Florida Gators 64-44. With only 7 scholarship players available for Tennessee on Saturday, most people opened up their favorite betting app and hammered the Florida money line, and who could blame them? Zakai Ziegler was ruled out Friday night after a scare against Kentucky on Tuesday night, and Igor Milicic was dealing with the flu. Two starters were down for a Tennessee team that lacks depth as it is, but at the end of the day, the remaining 7 players gave Tennessee fans an effort to remember.
Tennessee dictated the way the game would be played early, slowing it down and suffocating the Gators’ potent offense. You could tell Tennessee was going to give every ounce of effort they had from the opening tip to the final buzzer, but nearing halftime the Vols still trailed 19-18. The Vols needed a furious finish to the 1st half and then the momentum swing occurred. A Darlinstone Dubar block of Florida center Rueben Chinyelu, followed by a Cade Phillips block of Florida forward Sam Alexis led to a go-ahead transition 3 from Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier. Two incredible defensive plays leading to a made 3 will get any team going and it sure seemed to do the trick for the Vols as they took a 24-21 lead into the break.
The 2nd half saw the Vols come out clicking on all cylinders offensively for the first time in a while. Jordan Gainey was driving and making things happen. Felix Okpara was scoring down low. Chaz Lanier got back to nailing timely threes. But even more impressive than the offense was the way this shorthanded Vols squad never really got noticeably fatigued. The sustained energy from a 7-man rotation with their backs against the wall is a testament to the program Rick Barnes has built in Knoxville. There is zero sympathy in this league. Wins are at too much of a premium to pack it in and say “Oh well what can you do our best player is out”. A team can choose to wait for a more beatable opponent and their best player to be back in the lineup or they can do what Tennessee did and notch their biggest margin of victory over a top-5 team in program history. The hope is that this type of effort is repeatable for the Vols because if they give the same effort when Ziegler and Igor are back in the lineup this team could be special.
The Vols will be back in action Wednesday night when they host a dangerous Missouri team that just beat Mississippi State by 27 in Starkville. Tennessee has to turn the page after this emotional win over Florida and focus on another great opponent coming into Knoxville. I think it’s important to remember that just like one loss doesn’t define a team one win doesn’t either. Rick Barnes needs to find a way to get his guys playing like they did Saturday more often, and with his track record, I think he will even amid a brutal SEC schedule.