Alijah Martin scored 18 points, Denzel Aberdeen added 16 and No. 8 Florida controlled the game from the outset while steamrolling top-ranked Tennessee 73-43 on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play at Gainesville, Fla.
Alex Condon had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Rueben Chinyelu collected a career-high 15 rebounds as the Gators (14-1, 1-1 SEC) delivered full-scale domination of the Volunteers. Florida never trailed and led by as many as 36 points.
Tennessee (14-1, 1-1) is the last team in the nation to lose a game this season. It was vying for the first 15-0 start to a season in program history. The Volunteers will go into the record books tied with the 1922-23 squad for the best start.
Tennessee shot a porous 21.4 percent from the field (12 of 56) and 13.8 percent from 3-point range (4 of 29) as part of a dismal showing. Chaz Lanier had 10 points and seven rebounds but made just 3 of 16 shots from the field while Zakai Zeigler also had 10 points for the Volunteers.
Florida shot 39.7 percent from the field and went 6-for-20 from behind the arc.
The strong defensive effort by the Gators came three days after they allowed 106 points to then-No. 10 Kentucky.
Florida scored the first 12 points of the game while Tennessee missed its first nine shots of the contest.
Felix Okpara made two free throws with 13:19 left in the first half for the Volunteers’ first points. Tennessee finally recorded a field goal on Okpara’s jumper with 12:38 remaining.
The score was 24-14 before Florida went on a 10-1 run to close the half. Condon’s basket with 22 seconds left gave the Gators a 34-15 advantage.
Aberdeen scored 10 points and Condon grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half. Tennessee shot 13.8 percent (4 of 29) in the frame and missed all 14 of its 3-point attempts.
Lanier made Tennessee’s first trey to open the second half, but the Gators scored the next nine points. Martin had two dunks during the run, the latter making it 43-18 with 16:24 remaining in the game.
When Jordan Gainey (1-for-11 shooting on the night) had his shot blocked by Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. with 9:21 left in the game, it marked Tennessee’s 40th miss from the field in 47 attempts.
A short time later, Clayton scored on the inside to give Florida a 58-27 lead with 8:01 remaining.
Florida increased the lead to 64-28 on Aberdeen’s trey with 6:14 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Zeigler with 4:46 left ended a Tennessee stretch without a field goal at 8:12.
–Field Level Media
