Florida Gators
Tennessee
Gators complete season sweep of the Vols 88-82
Sunday, February 18, 2001 | Men's Basketball
The Gators completed a season sweep of the Vols. They defeated Tennessee 81-67 on January 30th. Florida got a big boost from senior Brent Wright, who was playing just five days after undergoing surgery to repair a broken right thumb. Wright finished with 15 points and 2 blocked shots.
"We would have been in a world of hurt if Brent did not play," said head coach Billy Donovan in his postgame radio interview. "Udonis (Haslem) really was a non-factor. He did a couple of things, but he never got into the flow of the game because of foul trouble. To come into this environment, with everything that was on the line, I thought our guys stepped up and gave a great performance."
Wright scored 9 of his 15 points in the first half when the Gators built a 43-33 lead. Dupay and Nelson then scored 8 points apiece to help the Gators open a 70-54 lead. Tennessee rallied to cut the Gator lead to just 4 points, but Haslem, who scored just 7 points, got a big dunk with 12 seconds to play to provide the Gators with the final margin of victory.
Nelson established an SEC career-high with 25 points, just one short of his career-high of 26 points. Dupay finished with 22 points. Both players made 5 three-point shots. Matt Bonner had 15 points and 8 rebounds.
The Gators improved to 18-5 and 8-4 in the SEC. Tennessee lost its fourth straight to fall to 18-8 overall and 5-7 in league play. The Gators will next play Wednesday February 21st at home against the Ole Miss Rebels. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. eastern time.
