GAINESVILLE, Fla.– The unranked Florida Gators gave the third-ranked Tennessee Volunteers everything they could handle, but in the end came up just short. Mike White's men fell 78-67 to the Vols in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.

Lately, the Gators have struggled to put up points consistently- going on several cold streaks throughout a game. They did hit some bumpy roads on the offensive end toward the end, but this was not the same offense Saturday night.

KeVaughn Allen led the way with 18 points on 6-9 shooting (5-6 from three) and stepped up in the biggest moments, something we haven’t seen him do in a long time.

Noah Locke was also really good from deep (4-9), finishing with 16 points. Meanwhile, Kevarrius Hayes had a very good game recording eight points.

In total, nine out of the ten different Gators featured ended up on the score sheet.

Defensively, the Gators were able to keep the Volunteers off-balanced for most of the game, but Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bowden were too much to handle in the end.

Tennessee shot 53 percent for the game, but only 37.5 percent from three (9-23). Furthermore, Florida turned the Vols over 13 times and dictated the pace of the game until the very end.

In short, the Vols are a very good basketball team, and their physicality in the paint (34 points to Gators 12) and respectable shooters proved to be too much for the Gators.

But in the loss, Florida may have played its best game. It wasn’t perfect, but the combination of shooting, especially in the first half, defensive intensity, and effort combined to show that the Gators could hang with a very good team.

Will that be the case throughout the rest of the season? Only time will tell, but this was a very close basketball game. This team looked different and we saw strides in inefficiencies from this team Saturday.

Next up the Gators will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the 12-3 (0-2) Bulldogs on January 15 at seven p.m.