GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team dropped a 91-67 decision Saturday afternoon at Florida, the reigning national champion.
Freshman forward Nate Ament led No. 21/22 Tennessee (11-5, 1-2 SEC) with 17 points in the setback at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
After the first 13-plus minutes came entirely within a five-point window, Florida (11-5, 2-1 SEC) junior forward Thomas Haugh posted a personal 7-0 run in 68 seconds to put his team up by five, 26-21, with 5:30 left in the frame. At that time, the Gators had 12 more field-goal attempts (8-of-26) than the Volunteers (6-of-14), but the former made the game’s next two shots to pull even at 26 just 99 ticks later.
Florida countered with a 15-2 burst, featuring 10 points from sophomore guard Boogie Fland, in just 2:49—it included 10 straight points in 60 seconds—and that capped the first-half scoring to make it 41-28 at the intermission.
Following a 6-of-22 start from the floor through 13 minutes, the Gators made eight of their next 10 field goals and finished the half at 14-of-33 (42.4 percent). Tennessee shot 8-of-20 (40.0 percent) overall, 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) beyond the arc and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) at the line, but got outscored 18-6 in points off turnovers.
The Volunteers notched the first basket of the second half, but Florida tallied the next seven points to claim an 18-point lead, 48-30, with 17:35 to go. The home team extended its margin as high as 25 in the second session.
Tennessee got the deficit down to 17 points, 70-53, with 8:06 to go after scoring six straight points in 33 seconds, but clawed no closer.
Ament, who amassed his highest point total since Nov. 26, paced a quartet of Volunteers in double figures. Junior forward Jaylen Carey and senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 12 points apiece, with the former setting a season best with six made free throws on nine attempts. Freshman forward DeWayne Brown added 10 points on a 5-of-6 field-goal clip.
Fland led all scorers with 23 points, one shy of his career high, on 9-of-13 field-goal shooting, including a 3-of-6 ledger from deep, plus added a game-best five assists and four steals. Junior center Rueben Chinyelu had 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with 16 rebounds, the latter mark the most by a Tennessee foe this season.
Junior guard Urban Klavžar had 15 points, finishing 3-of-9 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 at the line, while Haugh produced 13 points and a game-leading five steals. Junior forward/center Alex Condon tallied 11 points and seven rebounds, while senior guard Xaivian Lee chipped in 10 points to give the Gators six players in double digits.
Although Tennessee shot 21-of-49 (42.9 percent) from the floor, including 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) on 3-pointers, it allowed a 31-of-64 (48.4 percent) field-goal line at the other end. It also conceded a 30-8 mark in points off turnovers, committing 18 and forcing 10.
The Volunteers now return to Knoxville, Tenn., for back-to-back home games at Food City Center, the first of which is Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Texas A&M, live on SEC Network. Vol Network coverage begins at 6:30pm on 103.1FM WIKQ.
