The Florida Gators dropped their second straight road game, as
Tennessee took advantage of a shorthanded UF roster to take a 64-58
decision Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Florida (22-5, 12-3 SEC) couldn't contain Jordan McRae, who led Tennessee (17-10, 9-6) with game-high 27 points.
With
the loss the Gators' lead in the SEC race dropped to just one game
ahead of Kentucky and Saturday's opponent, Alabama (noon, ESPN at the
O'Connell Center).
Mike Rosario led Florida with 16 points, Patric Young had
15 – although only four in the second half, and Casey Prather had 10 off the
bench, as the Gators went with just six players for the bulk of the game due to
injuries.
Trailing 58-54 with just over a minute left Kenny Boynton missed an
open look at a three-pointer that would have cut the lead to one. His
shot rimmed out and Jarnell Stokes came down and converted a three-point
play to give Tennessee a seven-point lead, a six-point swing that
effectively put the game away.
Florida led most of the first
half, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and controlling play early. The
Volunteers took advantage of the Gators' inability to stop McRae,
three-point shooting and second chance points to climb back in. McRae
scored 17 of his 27 points in the first half.
Skylar McBee
connected from distance with 1:50 left in the first half to give
Tennessee a 34-32 lead. The Volunteers took a 35-32 lead into the locker
room.
Florida opened the second half on a quick 5-0 run to grab a
37-35 lead. Tennessee responded with an 8-0 run and never trailed in
the game again.
The Gators opened the game hitting three of their
first four attempts from distance – they hit just one of their final 13
attempts.
Tennessee out-rebounded the Gators 41-31 on the night and collected 13 offensive rebounds.
