No. 8 Tennessee basketball avenged an early season setback to No. 5 Florida with a resounding 64-44 victory over the Gators.
“No chance…Florida” declared famed ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg on College Gameday at Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With the news that senior guard Zakai Zeigler (knee) and senior forward Igor Milicic Jr. (illness) would be sidelined for Saturday’s game, college basketball fans across the country, including some Vol fans, agreed with Greenberg’s comments.
In their pregame huddle, senior guard Jahmai Mashack looked at everyone and said, “Hey, we got enough right here. We got enough right here to get done what we need to get done if we’ll stick together, carry out the game plan, do what we’re talking about here.”
The seven scholarship players available on Saturday afternoon proved the doubters wrong.
According to ESPN, Tennessee is the only program in SEC history to win six straight home games against AP top-five opponents. The victory also was the Volunteers’ largest ever against an AP top-five team.
Florida never established a big lead, although they led for nearly the entire opening 18 minutes of the game. The game-changing sequence transpired around the 1:45 mark in the first half.
Darlinstone Dubar denied a shot at the rim. Florida secured the offensive rebound, and Cade Phillips rejected the putback. Jahmai Mashack recovered the rebound and passed to Jordan Gainey, who found Chaz Lanier on the left wing. Lanier converted from 30 feet, giving Tennessee its second lead of the game.
Tennessee maintained its edge to a three-point halftime lead and never looked back.
Takeaway #1: Volunteers’ defense suffocated Florida’s offense
“Disappointed. We did not play very well today,” Florida head coach Todd Golden admitted. “I was expecting a better effort from our group. A lot of credit to Tennessee, I thought they dictated the game from start to finish.”
Florida entered the game ranked third in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, scoring 85.3 points per game on 47.0% shooting from the field and 34% from three. In addition, the Gators had not scored below 70 all season. All of these statistics were not met on Saturday.
Tennessee snapped Florida’s 1,167-game streak of scoring 45-plus points.
The Volunteers held Florida to only 21 points in the first half, shooting 26% from the field and 15% from three-point range, with very few uncontested shots. During this stretch, the Gators went 6:07 without making a basket.
The Vols’ high-intensity defense continued in the second half.
Rick Barnes’ team allowed only 23 points in the half, silencing Gators’ standout Walter Clayton Jr. and the rest of Florida’s shooters, who had been deadly this season.
Tennessee held Florida to 13-of-53 shooting from the field and 4-of-27 from three.
Seven of Florida’s 13 total turnovers were steals as a result of Tennessee’s pressure. The Volunteers also did an excellent job of guarding the rim, blocking seven shots.
Clayton Jr. scored 10 points, shooting 3-of-13 (23%) from the field and 2-of-9 (22%) from beyond the arc while injuring his left ankle in the final minutes of both periods. His teammate, Alijah Martin, finished with six points on 2-of-12 (17%) shooting overall and 2-of-9 (22%) from three-point range. Martin went 0-of-5 in the first half before making his first shot of the game with less than five minutes remaining in the second.
Takeaway #2: Lanier and Gainey led the offensive attack
Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey made significant contributions to fill Zeigler and Milicic Jr.’s absences.
Although he hasn’t played his best basketball in SEC competition, star transfer Chaz Lanier was on fire in Saturday’s game.
Chaz Lanier scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including five three-pointers. The North Florida transfer exploded in the second half, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the last 11 minutes.
Senior guard Jordan Gainey took Zeigler’s place at the point guard position.
Gainey struggled in the first half, scoring only five points on 1-of-7 attempts. The 6-foot-3 guard came alive in the second half and finished with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting and topped all players in assists (five) and minutes (37), establishing season highs—and new Volunteer records—in both categories. In addition, he ended with a game-high three steals.
Takeaway #3: Tennessee’s offense found balance
The starting lineup of Gainey, Lanier, Mashack, Dubar, and Okpara had only appeared together on the floor fewer than 3% of the team’s games this season. On Saturday, they guided the team to a better-balanced offensive attack.
Felix Okpara had 10 points and eight rebounds, going 4-of-5 from the field and making both free throw attempts. Senior guard Jahmai Mashack had eight points and eight rebounds, matching Okpara’s game-high and his career high, while also dishing out four assists. Cade Phillips, a sophomore forward, added seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and a game-high three blocks in 28 minutes.
The highlight of the day, possibly the season, came from a wonderfully executed fast break with 7:44 left in the second half. Mashack saved the ball after a steal and tossed it ahead to Phillips, who then passed it to Bishop Boswell, who gave it back to Phillips for an emphatic slam.
Tennessee basketball shot a horrific 11-of-45 from three in its defeat to Kentucky but trimmed those efforts in half against Florida.
Despite only converting 6-of-22 deep tries, the Vols found more two-point offense than they had in most of SEC play, resulting in a 34-14 points in the paint advantage.
“And I’m as proud of these guys as any team since I’ve been here because of the way that they prepared for it and believe that they knew they could go out and get a win,” Barnes said postgame. “I told them it was one of the great wins that we’ve ever had here.”
The Volunteers finish their three-game homestand Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 20 Missouri at Food City Center, live on SEC Network.
To keep up with Tennessee Volunteers basketball on social media, follow @BleedOrangeRev on X/Twitter.
Next up for Tennessee basketball (18-4, 5-4): vs. No. 20 Missouri (17-4, 6-2) – Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. EST
Next up for Florida basketball (18-3, 5-3): vs. No. 24 Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) – Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. EST
Zeigler’s absence snapped a 51-game starting streak that dated to Nov. 29, 2023, at North Carolina.