Florida basketball has mounted a few comebacks this season, however, on Saturday the Gators could not claw back from a slow first half, falling to Tennessee 63-58.

The Gators (18-11, 10-6 SEC) did manage to cut the deficit down to just one point with 2:55 to play, but John Fulkerson put those ambitions to an end.

In what looked like an improbable play, Fulkerson caught the ball near the top of the three-point line and launched it through Florida defenders and into the net.

Game over.

Tennessee’s stiff defense held the Gators to a season low 17 points in the first half - continuing Florida's struggle on the road, falling 3-7 away from the O'Dome.

UF was able to win the rebound battle 31-24, however, all the improvements shown the last few times in regards to ball movement disappeared.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Noah Locke led the Gators in scoring in the first half with a lackluster five points each. Meanwhile, Florida’s bench went scoreless throughout the first 20 minutes of the game and the team went 6 of 18 from the floor and 1 of 7 from the arc, with Locke connecting on Florida’s only three-pointer.

The Gators turned the ball over 11 times in the first half after coming into this game averaging only 12 turnovers per game. Against LSU on Wednesday, UF only turned over the ball five times; against the Vols they totaled 14.

The boys in black started to heat up halfway through the second half, coming within one point of tying the game but were unable to stop Tennessee from getting to the basket.

In that second half, the Gators went 16 of 29 from the floor and 5 of 9 on three-pointers, while Blackshear led the pack with 15 points. Florida’s bench put up 11, with guard Tre Mann going for 4 of 7 from the floor and 1 of 2 from the arc. Together, they were able to put 41 points up, but their messy first-half performance kept them out of the win column.

Meanwhile, Tennessee’s forward John Fulkerson matched his season high of 22 points and got two rebounds and one assist. The Volunteers turned the ball over only nine times.

The Gators are still sitting in that fourth spot in the Southeastern Conference behind Kentucky (23-5, 13-2 SEC), Auburn (24-4, 11-4 SEC) and LSU (20-9, 11-5 SEC), but South Carolina is within striking distance sitting at 17-11, 9-6 SEC.

The Gators will travel to Georgia on Wednesday for a matchup with the Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.