Throughout the past few seasons, Florida has earned a reputation as one of the best defensive teams in the country. And Saturday afternoon against Tennessee, coach Billy Donovan’s call for desperation motivated UF to live up to that billing.
During the No. 6 Gators’ 67-41 victory against the Volunteers in the O’Connell Center – their 11th consecutive win and 26th straight home victory – UF held UT to 26.8 percent shooting and a 1-of-19 clip from beyond the arc.
Minus forward Jarnell Stokes’ performance of 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, the Volunteers shot 19.1 percent from the field. Tennessee’s 41 points are a season low and the second fewest Florida has allowed an opponent to score this season.
“We had a little chip on our shoulder, because they kicked our butts the last three times,” said senior center Patric Young, whose team had lost to UT in both teams’ last three matchups heading into Saturday.
“Tonight, we were all locked in, really wanted to win this game. We definitely wanted to win the game more than they did.”
Florida’s scouting report for Saturday’s game started with Tennessee guard Jordan McRae, the team’s leading scorer with 19.2 points per game. The Gators successfully limited McRae to five points on only 1 of 15 shooting.
“He really didn’t have a lot of wide open looks,” Donovan said of McRae. “Most of his shots were challenged. I just think we were there on the catch and provided some help.”
Sophomore guard Michael Frazier II led Florida in scoring for the second straight game with 17 points, while senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin added 13 points.
After two close wins against Alabama and Auburn motivated his squad before the Tennessee to play with desperation on the defensive end.
The message got across early.
Both teams stood toe to toe until Florida went off on a 13-3 run over 5:56. UF’s balanced mix of man-to-man and zone defenses, as well as its double teams on the full-court press, caught UT off-guard and forced it to four turnovers during the Gators’ run.
After leading at halftime 26-19, Florida began the second half on a 16-4 run to put the contest far from Tennessee’s reach. The highlight of the half was a one-handed alley-oop slam from Young on a feed from Frazier.
Young’s dunk put UF ahead 55-33 with 6:05 and added an exclamation point to the win.
“As the game went on, they wore down a little bit,” Frazier said. “We just kept our floor on the gas.”
Florida’s win Saturday is Donovan’s first against UT coach Cuonzo Martin. Donovan had an 0-3 record against Martin prior to the matchup. The Gators’ last win against the Volunteers came on March 11, 2011, when Bruce Pearl was UT’s coach.
After playing two games in a span of three days, No. 6 UF now has four days off until it travels to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State on Thursday night.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick
Will Yeguete (middle) and Patric Young (right) cover Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes during Florida’s 67-41 win against Tennessee on Saturday in the O’Connell Center.
