At the Buzzer: Tennessee 83, Florida 69 (Instant Analysis)
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
AT THE BUZZER
TENNESSEE 83, FLORIDA 69
WHAT HAPPENED: Volunteers guard Kevin Punter started red-hot and his Volunteer teammates followed suit in opening a fat halftime lead and running away for an easy victory Wednesday night in a game the Gators trailed by as many 30 points in the second half. Punter, the Southeastern Conference's second-leading scorer coming in, hit his first seven shots (including three 3s) and finished with 26 points on 9-for-15 shooting and 3-for-3 from the arc. Forward Admiral Schofield had 17 points and eight rebounds for a UT team that shot 47 percent for the game and out-hustled the Gators from the opening tip. For the third straight game, Florida was led by freshman guard KeVaughn Allen, who scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists. UF shot just 34.3 percent for the game, despite hitting eight of its first 17 shots through the first 8-plus minutes. They went 16 of 53 the rest of the way.
WHAT IT MEANS: A hammer to the side of the team's collective heads as far as confidence in concerned -- especially with what lies ahead on the schedule (see below). Four days after putting together a pretty solid effort in opening the SEC season with a home win against Georgia, the Gators faced an opponent that had yet to beat a high-major opponent this season -- and fell behind by as many as 23 in the first half. Florida, which struggles to score from the floor, 3-point line and free-throw line, is not built to come back from big deficits, so the need to come out with a sense of urgency -- especially on the road -- is paramount. Down 53-21 at intermission, this game was pretty much over.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: No one wearing a UF uniform felt good about the effort, but junior forward Justin Leon, the junior college transfer making his second straight start, scored a career-high 11 points, thanks to a trio of 3-point field goals.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Coach Mike White stresses winning the turnover-margin battle and the Gators have been good this season at protecting the ball. At one point early in the second half, Tennessee had outscored UF in the points-off-turnovers category 20-0.
UP NEXT: It only gets tougher. The Gators (9-5, 1-1) are back home Saturday when they'll face LSU (9-5, 2-0), fresh off an 18-point rout of No. 14 Kentucky and led by freshman forward Ben Simmons, the slam-dunk favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. While on the subject, after that is a trip to Texas A&M, which figures to compete for the conference title.
