Tennessee coach Rick Barnes shakes the hand of Gators coach Todd Golden prior to tip-off on Tuesday night at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
Gators' Beatdown Left Impression on Veteran Barnes
Tuesday, January 7, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Rick Barnes strolled into his postgame press conference alone late Tuesday night, joined only by the printed box score he carried to help explain what happened.
The veteran head coach, in his 10th season at Tennessee, hasn't had many games with the Vols like his team's 30-point road loss to the No. 8-ranked Gators.
Speaking with the calmness of a bank teller to a customer, Barnes said the No. 1-ranked Vols, the last undefeated team in Division I when they took the court in front of a sold-out and pumped-up O'Dome crowd, didn't do much right in a 73-43 beating. He said they shot poorly, failed in transition defense and got pushed around in the paint during Tennessee's worst offensive output in his 10 seasons in Knoxville.
Still, the 70-year-old Barnes has been around long enough to know the difference between when his team loses a game or when the other team shows up and punches it in the face. He leaned toward the latter in Florida's first home victory over a No. 1-ranked team in program history.
"They've got a really nice team. They're a good basketball team. They are. I think that they've got a lot of options,'' Barnes said. "I like their balance. Honestly, we're probably more concerned with the front line coming in because we knew they're physical. We think those guys really understand their roles.
"We lost our poise. Give Florida a ton of credit. They did on the boards what we like to do to people, which I thought was the difference in the game."
The box score Barnes eyed told him the Gators dominated in every way, including a 55-38 rebounding advantage. Florida outscored the Vols in the paint (40-14), on second-chance points (19-4), on the fast break (22-3) and off the bench (25-7).
The beatdown started from the opening tip as the Gators, coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday at Kentucky, emerged from their locker room intent on setting the tone. The Vols were down double digits before they knew what hit them.
Florida raced to a 12-0 lead in the first 6 minutes, 18 seconds, and the rout was on.
"I thought they were physical," Barnes said. "Really trying to run guys off screens, all that, hitting the ball screen hard. Again, I think you gotta give them a ton of credit. I really do. But I am disappointed in the way that I felt we weren't poised the way we needed to be when we got down.
"We've been down before — obviously not that badly — but on the road especially. We just didn't handle it very well."
The matchup between top-10 teams shaped up as a golden opportunity for the Gators to return to form after their 106-100 loss at Kentucky. Two hours after Florida's loss Saturday, Tennessee improved to 14-0 with a 24-point win over then-No. 23 Arkansas. A victory Tuesday night would have been the first time they started a season 15-0 in Vols history.
Instead, both teams departed with identical 14-1 records and 1-1 conference marks.
UF coach Todd Golden could not have been more pleased with how the Gators took control of the game early and never let up, limiting the Vols to 15 first-half points and leading by as many as 36 in the second half (64-28).
"A great performance by our players,'' Golden said. "They did a wonderful job executing our game plan from start to finish. We played with a great mental and physical toughness. We didn't really have many lapses.
"We have incredible respect for Tennessee and the program that Coach Barnes built there. We knew this was going to be a challenging game for us."
The view from the other bench looked the same. And in reality, the challenge the Gators expected never arrived.
According to the Associated Press, the Gators' win is the most lopsided victory against a No. 1-ranked team since UCLA beat Houston, 101-69, in the 1968 Final Four.
All eight Gators who played scored, led by guard Alijah Martin's 18 points. The trio of Alex Condon (12 points, 12 rebounds), Rueben Chinyelu (4 points, 15 rebounds) and Thomas Haugh (7 points, 3 rebounds) did much of the dirty work down low. They seemed to grab every loose ball and contest every shot the Vols took close to the basket.
"You can't give up the offensive rebounds that we did," Barnes said. "You can't. But give them credit. I mean, that's a mindset. That's an effort. They made great effort. I thought their post guys played well, did what they set out to do. I think their post guys understand their roles tremendously and how they need to play.
"And that's a compliment to Todd and his staff. They beat us anyway you want to beat us."
Yes, they did. Barnes had the proof in his hands.
The veteran head coach, in his 10th season at Tennessee, hasn't had many games with the Vols like his team's 30-point road loss to the No. 8-ranked Gators.
Speaking with the calmness of a bank teller to a customer, Barnes said the No. 1-ranked Vols, the last undefeated team in Division I when they took the court in front of a sold-out and pumped-up O'Dome crowd, didn't do much right in a 73-43 beating. He said they shot poorly, failed in transition defense and got pushed around in the paint during Tennessee's worst offensive output in his 10 seasons in Knoxville.
Still, the 70-year-old Barnes has been around long enough to know the difference between when his team loses a game or when the other team shows up and punches it in the face. He leaned toward the latter in Florida's first home victory over a No. 1-ranked team in program history.
"They've got a really nice team. They're a good basketball team. They are. I think that they've got a lot of options,'' Barnes said. "I like their balance. Honestly, we're probably more concerned with the front line coming in because we knew they're physical. We think those guys really understand their roles.
"We lost our poise. Give Florida a ton of credit. They did on the boards what we like to do to people, which I thought was the difference in the game."
The box score Barnes eyed told him the Gators dominated in every way, including a 55-38 rebounding advantage. Florida outscored the Vols in the paint (40-14), on second-chance points (19-4), on the fast break (22-3) and off the bench (25-7).
The beatdown started from the opening tip as the Gators, coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday at Kentucky, emerged from their locker room intent on setting the tone. The Vols were down double digits before they knew what hit them.
Florida raced to a 12-0 lead in the first 6 minutes, 18 seconds, and the rout was on.
"I thought they were physical," Barnes said. "Really trying to run guys off screens, all that, hitting the ball screen hard. Again, I think you gotta give them a ton of credit. I really do. But I am disappointed in the way that I felt we weren't poised the way we needed to be when we got down.
"We've been down before — obviously not that badly — but on the road especially. We just didn't handle it very well."
The end of #Gators' first win over a No. 1-ranked team in school history at home … A 73-43 pounding of #Vols pic.twitter.com/dlJIgLthS4
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) January 8, 2025
The matchup between top-10 teams shaped up as a golden opportunity for the Gators to return to form after their 106-100 loss at Kentucky. Two hours after Florida's loss Saturday, Tennessee improved to 14-0 with a 24-point win over then-No. 23 Arkansas. A victory Tuesday night would have been the first time they started a season 15-0 in Vols history.
Instead, both teams departed with identical 14-1 records and 1-1 conference marks.
UF coach Todd Golden could not have been more pleased with how the Gators took control of the game early and never let up, limiting the Vols to 15 first-half points and leading by as many as 36 in the second half (64-28).
"A great performance by our players,'' Golden said. "They did a wonderful job executing our game plan from start to finish. We played with a great mental and physical toughness. We didn't really have many lapses.
"We have incredible respect for Tennessee and the program that Coach Barnes built there. We knew this was going to be a challenging game for us."
The view from the other bench looked the same. And in reality, the challenge the Gators expected never arrived.
According to the Associated Press, the Gators' win is the most lopsided victory against a No. 1-ranked team since UCLA beat Houston, 101-69, in the 1968 Final Four.
All eight Gators who played scored, led by guard Alijah Martin's 18 points. The trio of Alex Condon (12 points, 12 rebounds), Rueben Chinyelu (4 points, 15 rebounds) and Thomas Haugh (7 points, 3 rebounds) did much of the dirty work down low. They seemed to grab every loose ball and contest every shot the Vols took close to the basket.
"You can't give up the offensive rebounds that we did," Barnes said. "You can't. But give them credit. I mean, that's a mindset. That's an effort. They made great effort. I thought their post guys played well, did what they set out to do. I think their post guys understand their roles tremendously and how they need to play.
"And that's a compliment to Todd and his staff. They beat us anyway you want to beat us."
Yes, they did. Barnes had the proof in his hands.
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