The Gators knew the first step to upsetting a top-five team was to play their ugly brand of basketball.
It wasn’t enough.
Florida held the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer in check, but it couldn’t do enough offensively as Tennessee ran away with a 61-39 victory in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday.
Florida (14-12, 4-8 SEC) shot 25 percent from the floor, including 4 for 20 from beyond the arc. UF had a number of open looks, especially early, but struggled to knock them down.
Tennessee (23-2, 11-0 SEC) also started cold, shooting 9 of 27 in the first half, but Florida couldn’t capitalize.
After pulling within four with just more than seven minutes to go in the first half, the Gators went cold.
They scored four points over the next 11 minutes, including zero in the first four minutes of the second half, and Tennessee responded with a 21-4 run that put the game out of reach.
“We started the second half as if we didn’t expect them to try and come out and make a statement,” coach Amanda Butler said. “I felt like that was the difference in the ball game.”
Entering the contest, Butler talked about valuing every possession and paying attention to detail.
Florida, down by nine at the break, kept it relatively close by limiting turnovers and preventing easy points in transition.
But UF fell apart in the second half.
The Gators turned it over 16 times in the final 20 minutes, allowing the Volunteers to beat them over the top for easy scores.
“I’m just really disappointed in our second half and our lack of ability to sustain the focus that we needed to execute the game plan,” Butler said.
Guards Deana Allen and Jaterra Bonds combined for 10 of the Gators’ 24 giveaways and shot 5 of 22 from the floor. Bonds led the team in scoring (10 points) and rebounding (six). She played 32 minutes after starter Lanita Bartley got into foul trouble early.
“We didn’t even come close to what we needed to do,” Butler said. “You’re not going to beat anybody in this league with 24 turnovers.”
