Florida Gators Upset No. 2 Tennessee, 67-54
Photo: Colin Castleton; Credit: Zach Goodall
The Gators used an 18-3 run that lasted over five minutes in the second half to upset the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers for a resume-defining victory inside Exactech Arena on Wednesday night.
It's the second-straight win over a No. 2 team at home for Florida, who knocked off Auburn under similar circumstances during the 2022-23 campaign.
Florida's Colin Castleton led all scorers with 20 points on the night — 16 in the second half — including several clutch baskets at the rim during the late-game sequence to put the final nail in Tennessee's coffin.
Building a 17-4 lead catalyzed by a 15-0 run, the Gators saw early production from Will Richard and Myreon Jones from beyond the arc while effectively limiting the Volunteers' offensive success. Rick Barnes' squad failed to post a bucket for nearly seven minutes, a display that was arguably Florida's most efficient two-way product of the year.
Tennessee center Olivier Nkamhoua helped the Volunteers crawl back within striking distance as he posted a 7-0 run of his own. The two sides fought back and forth throughout the half, as the Vols cut the once 13-point deficit to just one at one point, but UF maintained the grasp it held on the contest from nearly the start.
Florida separated itself from the Volunteers again with an impressive late-half series.
Getting a stop on the defensive end, Florida pushed the ball down the court as the clock ticked under ten seconds remaining.
Point guard Kyle Lofton found Alex Fudge running down the seam for an emphatic dunk just before time expired.
The sequence built momentum for the Gators to head into the locker room with a six-point lead. As they returned from half, the offensive urgency remained, at least to start. The Gators found Lofton in the corner for the unit's fifth made three-point shot of the evening, extending the lead to seven.
His shot was the only field goal by Florida in the first 7:16 of the period. Still, UF capitalized on multiple trips to the free throw line and continued excellence on the defensive end to remain on top during a porous drought.
However, Tennessee retook the lead for the first 17:36 mark in the first half off back-to-back triples by Zakai Zeigler. That kickstarted UT to build its largest lead of the game, 44-38, with 8:41 remaining. The No. 2 team looked to be running away with the contest.
Florida refused to go down without a fight.
The Gators did what college basketball teams do best. They went on the sizable, aforementioned 18-3 run. Led by Castleton and supplemented by triples from Jones and Lofton and a Riley Kugel layup, Florida surged to retake a nine-point lead.
Jones, Lofton and Richard finished the contest with six combined three-point field goals, boosting Florida's scoring offense from its usual dormant state. Richard put the final stamp on the matchup as he finished through contact at the rim after breaking the Volunteers' press defense.
Florida now holds two Quad I wins on its resume this season and stole one of the four games needed to assert itself as a legitimate contender to move off the bubble into the tournament when March arrives.
The gauntlet for the Gators will continue as they head into Rupp Arena on Saturday to take on a Kentucky team starting to find its groove after an uncharacteristically slow start to the year.
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