KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Sometimes the score can be deceiving.
In a game where UF began as strong as it ever has, and held tough for as long as it could, the No. 7 Volunteers used a late run to bowl over the Gators and leave the imprint of a blowout in a game that was far from it.
As 20,036 hostile fans crawled down their backs and ESPN roamed the sidelines, the Gators (18-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) led Tennessee (20-2, 7-1 SEC) heading into halftime but fell apart as the game dwindled and fell decisively 104-82 on the road.
"I'm not happy we lost," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "But I think our guys competed. They played hard. Maybe it was lack of ability or just youthfulness, but in the last six minutes we just ran out of gas."
Tennessee took advantage of an undermanned UF squad, ending the game on a 16-3 run as the Gators struggled to keep pace in a game where the Volunteers hoisted a mind-boggling 71 shots from the field.
"I've never seen that," center Marreese Speights said. "We shot 54 percent and we still got blown out. What can you do?"
The two teams, with UF's all-time leading 3-point shooter Lee Humphrey in attendance, lit up the scoreboard in a tense shootout reminiscent of the days when Humphrey donned the orange and blue.
Tennessee hit 13 of 29 from beyond the arc, while the Gators connected on five of their 17 attempts. In the end, the fast pace may have doomed UF.
"To tell you the truth, I was thinking, 'They can't keep up with us,'" forward Dan Werner said. "This is how we wanted to play. It just didn't turn out the way we hoped.
In the first half, the Gators played among their best basketball of the season. UF hit 18 of its 28 field goals, including five of 11 from beyond the arc and missed just one of eight free throws.
The strong play, however, was only good enough for a 4-point halftime lead at 48-44.
Coming off the 19-point loss to Arkansas, UF came out of the gate composed and firing on all cylinders. The Gators raced out to an early 16-3 lead, stunning the crowd. Tennessee's veteran squad seemed unfazed by UF's early spurt and remained calm as they weathered the storm.
With UF leading 21-8, Tennessee scored eight straight to cut the lead to five. Soon, the Volunteers hit four 3-pointers in a matter of minutes to tie the score at 30.
The second half began at a feverish pace as Tennessee took its shot at the young Gators. The Volunteers came out hot, and took their first lead at 53-52 on a Chris Lofton 3-pointer.
At the 9:22 mark, Werner committed a hard foul on Tennessee's J.P. Prince that led to an altercation where Prince needed to be restrained. Much to the ire of the crowd and Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, Prince was called for a technical foul.
Tennessee seemed fired up by the incident and took control of the game from then on.
Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer to give Tennessee an 84-72 lead that seemed to be the dagger for the Gators.
UF hung tough and cut the lead to nine at 88-79, but a basket by Tyler Smith seemed to take the wind out of UF's sails and sent many fans filing for the exits.
Lofton then broke UF's back with a 3-pointer, which was followed by two Gators turnovers that led to two Sportscenter-worthy dunks.
At this point, the Gators did what they could to compete, but the score continued to swell and gave the appearance of a cakewalk in a game far from it.
Four Gators scored in double figures. Speights led the way with 23, Werner tallied 18, Calathes scored 15 and Lucas added 10.
