Gators dismantle no. 1 volume in historical detail

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – So, just to double check, which team entered Tuesday night’s heavyweight top-10 Southeastern Conference matchup rated first nationally in defense?

And which was the team no. 1 in the country, again?

Why ask? Because eighth-ranked Florida stifled top-ranked Tennessee to 21 percent shooting, including just four of 29 from the 3-point line — that’s 13.8 percent — and held the undefeated Volunteers nearly 27 points below their season average. When the smoke (and carnage) cleared, the Gators had obliterated the Vols 73-43 in front of a frenzied sellout crowd at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center that not only witnessed the third win in program history over a No. 1-ranked opponent – ​​and first at home – but the most lopsided defeat for a team at the top Associated Press vote in 58 years.


That’s right. Since Lew Alcinder and UCLA beat Elvin Hayes and no. 1 Houston 101-69 in the 1968 NCAA semifinals.


“I think we just brought the physicality tonight,” the sophomore forward Alex Condon said. “They are a very physical team and the refs let it go tonight. I think that was the key to the win.”


The game was never close, with the Gators (14-1, 1-1) jumping on their league rival for the first dozen points and never looking back. Fifth shift Alijah Martin led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, with Condon scoring his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Backup point guard Denzel Aberdeen scored a season-high 16 points while center Rueben Chinyelu hauled in 15 rebounds and led a UF interior attack that outscored the body-banging Vols (14-1, 1-1) 40-14 in the paint and outscored them 55-38, including 19-13 on the offensive end.

Few could have seen this coming. UF coach Todd Goldenever believer, saw signs of a serious bounceback coming off Saturday’s disappointing, mostly defenseless performance in a 106-100 loss at No. 10 at Kentucky in the SEC opener.

“We knew this was going to be a really challenging game for us, but we also believe we’re getting to the point where we expect to win these types of games,” Golden said after becoming the program’s second (together with Billy Donovan) to beat. a top ranked team. “I know it’s hard to say when you host the No. 1 team in the country that you expect to win, but I think our program went into this game tonight. We had good preparation .I thought we had a really good mentality, had a good shoot-around (Tuesday afternoon) and our guys, they were just ready for it. You can tell if guys are nervous or if they don’t prepare for it real way and I thought we were real locked in. our performance showed that.”


At both ends. No, the Gators weren’t their roaring offensive selves that started the game at No. 3 in offensive efficiency, but saw their defensive numbers drop after the lackluster performance against the Wildcats. UF shot 39.7 percent against UT and went just six of 20 from the 3-point line (30 percent). But those numbers were better than the 34.9 and 24.3, respectively, the Vols had allowed in their first 13 games. Florida’s 73 points (with scoring leader Walter Clayton Jr. held to seven, all in the half) were the most scored against Tennessee this season and 14 better than the Vols’ 55.9 allowed per game. match.


But it was on Florida’s defensive end that the game was turned on its head.


“I thought they were great,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of the home team.


The UF defense that showed up against UT looked nothing like the one that was diced three days earlier at Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats shot 58 percent and bombed 13 from distance.


Take a wild guess what Golden and the Gators talked about the most in the lead up to this one.


“We were more intentional, more locked into scouting,” Martin said. “I just saw something different in everyone’s eyes. We went through the players’ tendencies and everyone seemed locked in. If we can do that every game, we’ll be great.”


They were undoubtedly good in defense this time. UT went more than seven minutes before making its first field goal. The Vols trailed 34-15 at the half after going 4-for-29 overall and missing all 14 of their 3s. SEC scoring leader Chaz Lanier, averaging 20.2 points per game, was held to just two points.


“At halftime we talked about the defensive game plan and what we needed to do better,” Aberdeen said.


Does it do better than four field goals allowed?


“We basically said coming out in the second half, we let (North Carolina last month) get back into it a little bit and we weren’t happy with our second half defensive performance against Kentucky,” Condon said. “So just making sure we kept our foot on the gas in the second half was a big weight for us.”


Less than four minutes out of the locker room, the Gators’ lead was 25. With six minutes left, it was 36. When the final horn sounded, the Vols had just 12 field goals and their fewest points in the 10 seasons and 128 games with Barnes on the sidelines in Tennessee.


“We were dominant from start to finish,” Golden said.


As the final seconds ticked away, the O’Dome celebrated something that had never happened in the history of the program: a No. 1 takedown on its home floor.

“This was a great game for us, obviously. I’m incredibly proud of our players and our staff because we prepared really well for this game and I thought our guys did everything we asked of them, and then some and they were the reason we got this result,” Golden said after the program improved to 3-17 all-time against top-ranked foes. “But now our biggest thing is that this can’t be the highlight of our season. It’s great at the moment and we’re going to enjoy it tonight.”

Then it’s back to the gym to start working toward Saturday’s road trip to Arkansas, just the third game in an 18-game SEC minefield that has already played two games against top-10 teams.

And one (as in no. 1) for the history books.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at [email protected]