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.