Tennessee
How Tennessee basketball turned Florida’s ‘disrespect’ into blowout win
Florida coach Todd Golden turned to the crowd, waved his arms and did the Gator Chomp.
The clock showed 45 seconds to play with Florida leading Tennessee basketball 69-41 in Gainesville, Florida. That was on Jan. 7 and the Vols didn’t forget it on Saturday.
“We had to take it personal,” Vols guard Jordan Gainey said. “We didn’t like what we saw. At that point, it just became personal with us.”
The Vols were shown clips of how the Gators celebrated late in their 73-43 win in Gainesville, which only served to rile up No. 8 Tennessee (18-4, 5-4 SEC) and provide an extra boost for its shorthanded 64-44 beatdown of the No. 6 Gators (18-3, 5-3) at Food City Center.
Tennessee felt ‘disrespect’ from Florida
Vols guard Jahmai Mashack shared that the Tennessee coaches pointed to what they perceived as “disrespect” from Florida in the first meeting this season. They compiled videos to emphasize the point.
“We don’t take well to that,” Mashack said. “We’re a tough team. A team that plays hard every single game. … Knowing that, we all had a chip on our shoulders.”
The Vols responded with their best win of the season. They shut down Florida’s highly regarded offense, holding the Gators to 44 points. Florida’s previous low this season was 70 and it had only been held to less than 80 points four times in their first 20 games.
UT limited Florida to 24.5% shooting and 14.8% 3-point shooting.
The Vols also performed at an elite level on the interior, outrebounding and outscoring Florida in the paint. UT had a 34-14 scoring edge in the paint after it was outdone by a 40-14 margin in Gainesville. UT lost the rebounding battle 55-38 in the loss, then won it 40-37 on Saturday.
The Vols were ‘fired up’ for Florida rematch
Chaz Lanier, who had a game-high 19 points, didn’t mind speaking for his teammates about the videos they saw.
“Everybody was just fired up and ready to go for the game,” Lanier said. “Everybody was excited for this one.”
Tennessee’s defense was at its best again against a top offense like it was in a 53-51 loss at Auburn. It played a hard-fought first half before rolling the Gators in the second half despite being without guard Zakai Zeigler (right knee) and forward Igor Milicic Jr. (illness).
It got a helping hand from Florida in the process.
“Going through that experience, it helped us in the long run,” Mashack said.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ByMikeWilson or Bluesky @bymikewilson.bsky.social. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
The Tennessee Volunteers are in the middle of a bye-week, after last weekend’s loss to Oklahoma.
The playoffs are out of the picture, but there is still plenty of work left to do. The Vols will use this week to work on getting some guys healthy as they prepare for New Mexico State on November 15.
It will be interesting to see if there are any changes for the New Mexico State in terms of players. Will the Vols decide to go a bit younger and work in some younger guys as a way to jumpstart some guys who may battle for playing time and/or a starting position next season.
Josh Heupel met with reporters earlier today to discuss a few things as the team prepares to move forward.
Josh Heupel’s Opening Statement
“How’s everybody doing? Uh, good work today. Um, got another day tomorrow and then some of the coaches will hit the ground recruiting this week. Big focuses again on us during the bye and how we get better. So, open it up,” Heupel said.
Balancing Act
“Yeah, I think wherever your feet are and what’s important at that moment is what you got to be doing. So, uh the development of our current players, our preparation of the opponent that we’re playing, you know, for me, at times the projection of the following year in all departments you’re looking at. So, it’s a combination of all those things. December has changed a little bit on the calendar as well. That gives you a little bit more time potentially in December as well,” Heupel said.
Rotating Young Guys
“Guys that prove that they’re ready to play and play at a really high level, championship level. They earn the right to play and compete and that’s ongoing throughout the course of this season. These guys have worked really hard, disappointed in the results Saturday and a couple other during the course of the year, for sure. But man, it’s constant and consistent growth from everybody,” Heupel explained.
Click HERE to watch and listen to everything Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel said during his Wednesday media availability during the bye-week.
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Tennessee
Tennessee provides $5 million emergency food funding during government shutdown affecting SNAP benefits
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee is providing $5 million in emergency funding to food banks as the government shutdown continues to block federal food assistance for low-income families across the state.
The funding comes from TennCare reserve funds and will go to Second Harvest Food Bank, which will distribute the money to food banks statewide based on the number of SNAP recipients in each community.
“It’s an initial response to an immediate need,” Gov. Bill Lee said.
The emergency measure comes as food pantries report overwhelming demand. The Well’s food pantry in Spring Hill served as many families in one hour as they typically see in an entire day.
“It’s hard to see hungry families, senior citizens who have no other alternatives except to wait in the long line at a food pantry,” said Shelly Sassen, CEO of The Well.
SNAP benefits, the federal program that helps low-income families buy groceries, stopped during the shutdown, creating a food emergency across Tennessee.
“They ought to open the government now,” Gov. Lee said.
Even if the Trump administration follows a judge’s order to unlock emergency funds that could provide at least half the normal SNAP amount, Gov. Lee warns the process won’t be immediate.
“But if they release partial funding, the complexity of loading cards with a different formula than before is going to be difficult,” Gov. Lee explained.
The state’s emergency funding represents “the sort of most streamlined way to get dollars to people out, even in rural areas,” Gov. Lee added.
Food pantry volunteers describe the emotional toll of seeing increased need firsthand.
“We’re telling some folks to come back later in the day,” said one volunteer at The Well.
“When you’re here looking people in the eyes and see that they are hungry, that they need some help. That’s what really hits,” another volunteer said.
You are invited to make monetary donations, but Second Harvest Food Bank would also greatly appreciate food donations. Here is a list of suggested items:
- Peanut Butter
- Canned Meat (Chicken or Tuna)
- Canned Vegetables
- Canned Fruit
- Canned Meals (Entree or Soup)
- Pasta
- Pasta Sauce
- Cereal
- Rice
- Beans (Canned or Dry)
You can drop off food donations at the following locations:
- Second Harvest Nashville — 331 Great Circle Road Nashville, TN
- Second Harvest Symrna — 1958 Almaville Road Smyrna, TN
- Second Harvest Camden — 69 Benton Industrial Road Camden, TN
- Any Middle Tennessee Kroger location
You can find your nearest Kroger location by clicking here.
Are you someone being affected by not receiving SNAP benefits? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com
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