Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Todd Golden and his Florida players did a great job of flushing the Ole Miss debacle by putting together their best all-around performance of the season Saturday in dominating Arkansas on the way to a 90-68 home victory, a game the Gators led for more than 37 minutes. It was a textbook response in the face of adversity.
Now comes a far more difficult challenge, but one that requires a reciprocal response. This time to prosperity.
"You have got to take advantage of playing a good game," Golden said.
Which brings the Gators (11-5, 1-2) to Tuesday's road date against sixth-ranked Tennessee (12-4, 2-1) at Thompson-Boling Arena, a game that will tip off two hours early due to the wicked snowstorm that blanketed the Smoky Mountains Monday, and where the Volunteers will try to blanket the visitors with one of the best defenses in the country, and at a place UF hasn't won in 10 years.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
The last Florida team to beat Tennessee on the road was the one that won 30 in a row, went unbeaten in 21 games against SEC teams on the way to claiming the program's last regular-season conference and tournament championships, as well as its last Final Four. The four battle-tested seniors off that remarkable 36-win team – 2014 SEC Player of the Year Scottie Wilbekin, Patric Young, Casey Prather and Will Yeguete – knew how to stare down hostile crowds away from home. So did their coach.
The 2023-24 Gators, winless in two true road games to date (and 4-9 in Golden's two seasons), would be wise to keep in mind the ambush from six days earlier in their first road conference contest of the season. The Rebels hit the Gators with an early second-half haymaker on the way to a 103-85 bludgeoning.
Worth noting: Tennessee obliterated Mississippi 90-64 in their SEC opener, hitting 47 percent from the floor (with 11 3-pointers) and finished with a dominant 47-24 advantage on the glass. Golden said watching tape of that one, and the way the Vols manhandled the Rebels, reminded him of a "football game." As in the physicality of the home team in orange and white. That is the calling care of a Rick Barnes-coached team.
UT has won six straight home games in the series, dating to the 2016 season (Barnes' first), which is UF's longest league road drought.
"A big part of [the Vols' success] is their defensive pressure and ability to really bother teams, getting out and pressuring them while also being able to keep them in front and make sure don't get any good looks at the rim," Golden said. "Every game on the road in this league is going to be a huge challenge for us and obviously Tennessee is no different in that way. … We're going to have to be mentally tough to go there and play really well. I'm excited for our team and our guys to get this challenge, especially after last week."
The Gators got smoked at Ole Miss in their first SEC road game of the season, but freshman center Alex Condon (left) wasn't phased by the atmosphere on his way to a double-double and vowed not be phased at Tennessee, either.
No player on the Florida roster has played at Thompson-Boling, where the Vols unleash a defense that must at times feel like facing six guys with three hands a piece. Coach Mike White's first team came here in '16 and trailed by 30 in the second half. One of his most talented ones, in '20, fell behind by 19 in the second half.
Florida last trip here, in '22, saw two UF players, Keyontae Johnson (who wasn't even dressed out) and Tyree Appleby, absolutely erupt in frustration; Johnson after being mocked by a couple UT players for his illness and Appleby in response to a couple slur-hurling fans. The emotions ran high. Too high. What was a close game flipped in UT's favor.
It is as difficult a place to play as any in the league, but mostly because of the physical nature with which the Volunteers play.
"I'm not afraid of it," freshman 6-foot-11 forward Alex Condon said.
That's a good baseline for a first visit here.
Condon's first game away from Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center was a neutral-site contest against Virginia in Charlotte. The Gators lost a close one and Condon went scoreless over 11 minutes. His first true road game was at Wake Forest three weeks later. UF lost. Condon had five points, four rebounds and fouled out in just 17 minutes. His next road game was UF's last. The blowout loss at Ole Miss. Condon looked far more comfortable. He had the second double-double of his career, with 11 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end.
The way Condon plays, with his Australian rules football background, lends itself to this game – and probably will make him a marked man among the Vols and their fans.
"It's a mindset thing I brought into my freshman year," said Condon, who is averaging 8.4 points and at 7.3 rebounds ranks second in the SEC. "I may not be as talented or as skillful as other players in this league, but I'm willing to be as physical and put my all out there."
It take his "all" and everybody else's for the Gators to embrace this next challenge, and to take advantage of playing a good game, as their coach put it.
"You got to go in there, you got to take care of the ball, you've got to be physical, whether it's offense or defense, and got to draw a line in the sand defensively and keep a guy in front," Golden said. "If you bring physicality you're going to give yourself a chance. If you don't, it's going to be a long night."
