Vols Hand Gators Third Consecutive Loss

Wednesday, February 21

Knoxville, TN

9 PM

Florida Gators

Tennessee

UT forward Grant Williams works for two of his game-high 23 points. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Vols Hand Gators Third Consecutive Loss

Thursday, February 22, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score

UF was no match inside for UT's burley forwards Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, who combined for 39 points.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Florida Gators brought high effort and mostly solid defense on the road with them, but the team's offensive woes continued Wednesday night in a 62-57 loss to No. 18 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Center.

UF was knocked around in the low post by blue-collar and banging UT forwards Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, who combined for 39 points and 14 rebounds while making the plays — usually in close — to deny the visitors any hope of a comeback.

"I thought we played just as hard as Tennessee, and we haven't done that every night. That's not who this team has been. I thought we played with an incredible amount of effort," Florida coach Mike White said. "We gave ourselves a chance."

Unfortunately, White's team needed more. More than 35-percent shooting overall, 25 percent from the 3-point line and 56 percent from the free-throw line. They needed more than the 57 points that marked the second-fewest of the season. They needed guard KeVaughn Allen not to go scoreless for the first time since his freshman year (Jan. 12, 2016 at Texas A&M), a run of 84 games, and take more than just three shots. Ultimately, they needed more than Jalen Hudson's team-high 13 points, the 11 from Keith Stone or the seven from forward Egor Koulechov.

More than anything, the Gators (17-11, 8-6) needed an actual victory. They've now lost three straight, as well as six of the last eight Southeastern Conference games and sit in a six-team logjam for third place in the league standings. UF has a solid list of high-profile victories that will look favorable to the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but they need more wins — at least one, perhaps even two — with just three regular-season games and at least one conference tournament date to get them.

The clock is ticking and, frankly, the Gators aren't exactly clicking.

"We played as hard as any game all year," said senior point guard Chris Chiozza, who scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and tallied nine assists in defeat. "You're upset whenever you lose, but this was one of those losses you take like a man. We played hard, they played hard. We feel like there were some times, maybe in some other games, that if we had played harder we wouldn't be in the situation we're in."

Here's that situation:

* Florida, amid this ill-timed nose dive, plays host Saturday night to first-place and 10th-ranked Auburn in a sold-out game at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The Tigers, with just three league losses, will come to town knowing they can wrap up at least a share of the SEC regular-season crown with a win.

* UF goes to Alabama on Tuesday night. The Crimson Tide, who were destroyed 90-71 Wednesday at Auburn, are one of those half-dozen teams currently locked up in third place. They're also the team that came to Gainesville three weeks ago and buried the Gators by 18.

* Florida wraps the regular-season March 3 at home against Kentucky, which has won two straight after losing four in a row, and is a game behind that third-place cluster. The Wildcats lost at home to the Gators last month and will be looking to exact some revenge and better their postseason situation.

Because of Wednesday's result, UF's postseason situation is teetering. The Gators began the night by missing their first three shots and turning the ball over three times, as the Volunteers (20-7, 10-5), a team firmly in the NCAA picture, scored the game's first six points.

"We regrouped," said junior center Kevarrius Hayes, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds. "The guys we had in there got us back in the game."

Point guard Chris Chiozza (left) had 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists in the loss. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

It started with some want-to plays from some backups White went to early. More than nine minutes in, though, Florida had just five points, but a 13-4 run pushed the Gators to a 17-16 lead with just over five minutes to play in the period. It would be UF's only lead of the night. From there, the Vols finished the half on an 11-1 run to go to the locker room up 27-18.

Yes, 18 points in the first half, thanks to 27-percent shooting and just 1-for-10 from the 3-point line.

"They didn't have many points, either," Chiozza said. "We were playing defense, too."

The Vols' lead, though, proved just enough. Though they trailed a couple times by 10 after halftime, the Gators on three occasions closed the margin to just one, but each time Tennessee made the plays to ward off the comeback. It was usually Williams, who had a game-high 23 to go with six rebounds, or Schofield, who added 16 points and eight rebounds, doing damage by either backing down UF defenders for layups or getting position to drop in pretty jump hooks. The two combined to go 15-for-30 from the floor, plus eight of nine from the free-throw line, as the Vols bodied for 32 points in the paint.

Just once more, at 60-57 with 24.5 seconds remaining, after a driving layup by Chiozza, who was fouled on the play. With a chance to take the margin to two, Chiozza missed the "and-1" free throw, though Florida remained within a lone possession. UT inbounded the ball and guard Jordan Bowden (9 points) put the game away with two free throws.

For the game, the Gators went just 6-for-24 from the 3-point line (25 percent). In a five-point game, UF made only nine of 16 free throws, including a missed front end. There were a couple more missed layups, also, as the numbers of this once-feared (albeit a while ago) offensive team continue to declined. Florida has reached 70 points in just three of its last 10 league games, and is shooting just 29.1 percent from arc over the previous nine.

The defense and effort, though, was better.

In a loss.

"By playing with that intensity level and that attention to detail defensively, that level of physicality — we have to fly around and play together and gang rebound like we did — that's puts you in position," White said. "I told our guys i was proud of the effort defensively, but we've got to get to where we see that every night … and there's not many games left."