When Tennessee guard Trae Golden dished the ball to Jarnell Stokes on the low block with 8:16 left in the first half, forwards Erik Murphy and DeVon Walker double-teamed the 6-foot-8, 270-pound center.
Stokes missed his first layup but pulled down the rebound after Walker mistimed his jump.
The Volunteers forward’s second field goal attempt — a left-handed hook shot — was short, but he snatched the ball out of the 6-foot-6, 191-pound Walker’s hands for another offensive rebound.
As Walker backed off and Murphy watched, Stokes made the bucket on his third try.
The play was indicative of how dominant UT was on the glass Tuesday night.
Tennessee outrebounded No. 8 Florida 41-31 and tallied 13 offensive boards, handing the Gators a 64-58 loss in Knoxville, Tenn.
Stokes led the Volunteers with 14 rebounds, including six offensive boards.
The sophomore big man also chipped in eight points in 24 minutes.
“We had a couple times where we had guys around him, but obviously, he’s a big, strong guy,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “When you have that kind of body, when the ball gets in his hands, he grabs it. That’s his greatest strength.”
Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin added: “[Stokes has] made that commitment to get big rebounds. … He takes pride in rebounding, and that’s why you see the results.”
Florida’s frontcourt struggled to rebound without two of its most efficient players.
Forward Will Yeguete missed his sixth game since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 8 to remove bone chips in his right knee. Michael Frazier II, the Gators’ best rebounding guard, sat out Tuesday night’s contest with a concussion.
Murphy grabbed six rebounds, center Patric Young recorded five and forward Casey Prather notched only two.
Point guard Scottie Wilbekin led UF with eight rebounds.
UT guard Jordan McRae, who scored a game-high 27 points, pulled down seven boards.
The Volunteers outrebounded the Gators 24-14 in the second half.
Stokes’ most important offensive board came in the game’s final minute.
With Tennessee (17-10, 9-6 SEC) ahead by four points, Stokes snatched the ball after McRae missed a runner. Stokes made a layup, drew a foul on Murphy, and made his free throw to complete the three-point play and increase the Volunteers’ lead to 61-54 with 54.5 seconds left.
“I feel like that pretty much sealed the deal,” Stokes said.
Injury update: Yeguete (right knee), Frazier (concussion) and Prather (facial laceration) have all been cleared by UF’s medical staff to practice today, UF announced on Wednesday.
Yeguete and Frazier could return for Florida’s home matchup against Alabama on Saturday.
Florida previously thought Prather might have suffered his third concussion of the season during Tuesday night’s game. He exited the contest with 2:48 remaining. Prather started bleeding after taking a blow to the face from guard Mike Rosario on a rebound attempt.
Freshman DeVon Walker runs down the court during Florida’s 83-52 win against Missouri on Jan. 19 in the O’Connell Center. Walker announced Monday he will return to Florida after asking for his release to transfer on May 6.
