GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the better part of about 32 minutes, it was difficult to distinguish which was the nation's third-ranked team and which was the unranked underdog looking for a mega-upset to reset its middling season, as two Southeastern Conference foes traded baskets and bodies Saturday night.

The last eight minutes? 

Now, that was easy to tell who was who.

Tennessee junior guard Jordan Bowden scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, including 12 straight over a game-altering two-minute stretch, and the No. 3 Volunteers seized command late and finished off host Florida for a 78-67 win in a terrific basketball atmosphere at sold-out Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. 

UT junior forward Grant Williams, the 2018 SEC Player of the Year and league scoring leader, tallied game highs of 20 points and nine rebounds, while senior guard Admiral Schofield, the conference's No. 2 scorer, had 14 points and eight rebounds, as the Vols (14-2, 3-0) won their ninth straight. Bowden, though, was the real villain for the visitors, after he hit four of six second-half shots, including a critical 3-ball, plus all five of his free throws, in the most pivotal part of the game. 

"We need more focus down the stretch," UF freshman guard Noah Locke said after his team lost a 16th straight game against an opponent ranked in the top five, dating to the 2009-10 season. "It's been a problem three games now, with being locked in and focused down the stretch, and we can't let those things happen."

Maybe so, but this wasn't South Carolina, which came to town and came from 14 back a week earlier to win at the final horn. Awful loss. And it wasn't Arkansas, which staged a late rally from 15 down Wednesday night, only to be fended off by free throws in the final seconds. Good, but shaky win. No, this was Tennessee, one of the best teams in the country, surely one of the most physical, and one the Gators led by three, 56-53, with just over eight minutes remaining after senior guard KeVaughn Allen (18 points, 6-for-9 shooting, 5-for-6 from distance) drained a pull-up three in transition to send the O'Dome into hysterics. 

"What a terrific environment. Wow!" UF coach coach Mike White said afterward. "Disappointed we couldn't get it done for them."

After UT coach Rick Barnes called a timeout and settled his veteran squad, UF botched an excellent defensive possession when freshman forward Keyontae Johnson fouled Bowden on a late-clock, 3-point shot. Bowden made all three free throws to tie the game. Three more times, Florida took the lead, but each time Bowden answered with points, including mere seconds after Locke's fourth 3 of the game pushed the Gators ahead by 3. Bowden matched it with a  
3 of his own. 

Then came a steal at half court — by Bowden, of course — and a run-out slam-dunk that gave Tennessee the lead. For good, as things turned out, with 5:34 to go.

"We were being aggressive on both ends of the floor," Bowden said. 

Florida was not. 

Case in point: Twice in the second half, the Volunteers had possessions with double offensive rebounds, and both times they scored on their third chances. The second time came with the Gators trailing by two, 67-65, and resulted in a layup for Williams and four-point lead with 2:23 remaining. 

Locke's two free throws closed the gap again to two with 1:24 left, with UF's defense creating a steal at mid-court and breaking into transition. With the floor spread and players scrambling, Locke launched a 3 that bounced away with 1:24 to go, and Schofield's ensuing late-clock 3-ball from the corner — off a tremendous skip pass from Williams on the other side of the lane that caught the UF defense a rotation short — made it a five-point game with 40.3 seconds to go. 

"The mistakes we made, they capitalized on those," Allen said. "It hurt us at the end."
 
UT scored the game's final nine points to make a close game look not-so-close, but the Vols were clearly delighted with the outcome, evidenced by their collective Gator chomp performance at center court, directed at the Rowdy Reptiles. 

"That was kind of a low," UF senior center Kevarrius Hayes said of the post-game antics. "Whatever." 

Said Schofield: "I have never liked Florida and never will."

The Gators and Vols will play again Feb. 9 in Knoxville. 

Against a UF defense ranked fifth in the nation in overall efficiency, UT shot 52.7 percent for the game, including nearly 58 in the second half. The Vols scored 34 of their 78 points in the paint. The Gators stuck around because their 3-point hands were hot, with nine of 22 going down in the first half. But UF was an overall 7-for-25 in the second half (28 percent) and managed just a trio of 3-balls on 10 attempts. The Gators missed six of their last seven field-goal tries. Freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard finished 1-for-10 from the floor and missed a couple point-blank bunnies.

Against an offense as efficient as the Vols, that wasn't going to cut it. 

"Guys fought, guys played hard," UF coach Mike White said. "I thought we found a pretty good offensive rhythm — for us, when you consider our offensive struggles —against a terrific defense. We did a pretty good job of executing. Got some good looks and just didn't make enough of them. And down the stretch, we made too many mistakes. Some of it was our offense hurting our defense late." 

Like the the "pick-6" turnover (there were actually two in the second half) and couple other bad possessions that got the Vols out in the open floor. 

And yet, Florida was right there late against an opponent that is a legitimate national-championship contender. 

"They're a pretty good team," Locke said. "But I feel like we could be a pretty good team if we stayed more focused and listen to what our coaches say."

Sounds like some of the same sound bytes from a week ago. Three days ago, too. 

"We've got some areas where we're just average or below average," White said. "We've got good guys who will continue to work and stay together, but if we don't get more disciplined, more mentality tough and pay closer attention to detail — relative to scouting and our offensive rules — this is going to happen a bunch more. Unless we get three guys who start going for 25 a game." 

The latter definitely is not going to happen. The former, all of it, remains a work in a progress.