The good, the bad & the shocking from Florida's blowout win over No. 6 Tennessee:
The Good
DEFENSE!
The Gators held Tennessee to just 29.3% shooting on the night. Florida pressed, they hustled, and they out-rebounded Tennessee 44-36. Florida had 30 defensive rebounds to Tennessee's 19. The Gators had 42 points in the paint to Tennessee's 19. Florida had 11 steals, 7 blocks, and 27 points off of turnovers. It was a complete buy into what Mike White has been preaching on the defensive side of the ball.
“Our press was definitely a factor. To me, that’s the most productive our pressure has been without fouling this year, so we are growing in that area. Offensively I thought we played with a lot of confidence," Mike White said. "We’ve talked about this transition we are going through, I thought our guards were really good playing it in space. Our bigs were good with their pick-and-roll and really active on the offensive glass. We did a lot of things pretty well.”
The Bad
Uh, this seems a little silly to do considering the outcome, but...
Florida had to go into the game against No. 6 Tennessee without starting guard Scottie Lewis (third consecutive missed game), and starting big man Colin Castleton, who sustained an ankle injury at the end of the Mississippi State game. Couple that with already playing without Keyontae Lewis this whole season and the Gators were behind the eight ball and up the creek without a paddle. On the broadcast, there was an off comment that said Florida would have an update on Keyontae Johnson’s status for the rest of the season in the coming days, but the thought is still that the SEC preseason player of the year is unlikely to play for Florida this season. Florida will need to get back to full strength if they want to really make a run for the NCAA Tournament.
The Shocking
The final score: 75-49, Florida.
How in the world did Florida, missing three of its best four players, losers in three of its last four games blow out the No. 6 team in the country?
It was a full team effort starting on the defensive end. Omar Payne, starting in place of Castleton, set the tone early. His effort on defense, specifically the boards, helped the Gators build a lead early. Payne registered all five of his offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play. The Gators held Tennesee to just 29.3% shooting (17-58). Florida pressed, they hustled, and they attacked the glass. It was an effort fans had been looking for all season.
Notable:
Florida has notched a top-10 win in five of its six seasons under Mike White, adding tonight’s victory vs. sixth-ranked Tennessee to the list.
The Gators played the game without three opening-day starters – Keyontae Johnson (medical), Scottie Lewis (health & safety protocol) and Colin Castleton (ankle) – as four players clocked a season-high in minutes: Ques Glover, Omar Payne, Jason Jitoboh, Niels Lane.
It marked the Gators’ fourth win vs. a top-10 team by a margin of 17+ under Mike White (17 vs. #9 WVU, 22 vs. #8 Kentucky, 22 vs. #4 Auburn, 26 vs. #6 Tennessee).
It tied Florida’s largest win vs. a top-10 team in the AP Poll Era (1948-49), matching the 26-point margin (86-60) vs. Ohio State on Dec. 23, 2006.
Florida finished the game on a 20-5 run after UT had closed within 11 points just under the 10-minute mark.
Entering the game, Tennessee was shooting .467 from the field and limiting opponents to .385. The Gators shot .492 vs. one of the nation’s highest-rated defenses and limited to UT to .293.
Omar Payne has figured prominently in the past two Florida wins vs. top-10 opponents. Making his first start of the season, Payne tallied nine points and nine rebounds. Payne had 19 points and 11 rebounds in last season’s win vs. #4 Auburn.
Tyree Appleby reached the 1,000-point career scoring mark. The speedy point guard scored 899 points in two seasons at Cleveland State before coming to UF.
