Tennessee's Robert Hubbs tries to make a pass around Florida's Jacob Kurtz on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators thumped the Vols, 66-49.
photo by Tennessee Athletics
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Armani Moore led Tennessee with 16 points, but the slip-sliding Vols could not overcome Florida's first-half surge, falling to the Gators, 66-49, on Saturday at the O'Connell Center.
Tennessee fell to 14-14 and 6-10 in SEC play with the loss. Florida improved to 14-15 and 7-9 in conference games thanks to a dominant first half.
Moore shot 7-of-8 from the field and also corralled a team-best five boards. Derek Reese finished with 10 points and four rebounds. Josh Richardson scored all nine of his points in the second half and also tallied three assists and two boards.
The Gators shot 57.1 percent from the floor and made nine 3-pointers. Dorian Finney-Smith scored a game-high 20 points and made four 3's. Eli Carter (11 points) and Jon Horford (10 points) also reached double-figures for Florida.
Tennessee climbed back to 15 points with 7:35 remaining after a Richardson 3-pointer. The Gators held off the Vols' attack over the last few minutes to secure the win.
UT outscored Florida, 27-26, in the second half, but the Gators' hot first half was too much to overcome.
Florida controlled the first half, taking a 40-22 lead into the break. The Gators shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23 from the floor and went 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. Finney-Smith led Florida with 10 points and Carter had nine points off three treys.
Moore paced the Vols in the first half with 10 points and 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Tennessee, which has lost five straight games to LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Florida, shot just 38.1 percent in the opening period and just 1-of-8 from 3-point range.
The game started with both teams trading 3-pointers, but Florida seized control early with a triple by Carter five minutes into the game that gave the Gators a 15-5 advantage. Tennessee pulled to within six points, 22-16, on a dunk by Robert Hubbs at the 9:50 mark. However, Florida went on a 12-2 run over the final four minutes of the first half to stretch its lead to 18 at the break.
Tennessee next heads to Baton Rouge, La., to face LSU on March 4 at 7 p.m. in an attempt to stop a losing skid that has taken the Vols out of the NCAA tournament discussion.
UT closes the regular season on March 7 when it hosts South Carolina in Knoxville.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)