For nearly 30 minutes the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida Gators were locked in a close battle at Thompson-Boling Arena. Then the Vols' defense finally decided to make an appearance.
UT used a 33-14 run over the game's final nine minutes to run away with a 104-82 win over the Gators.
Chris Lofton scored 26 points to lead the Vols in scoring for the fifth straight game.
The senior also connected on six 3-pointers to bring him within 69 of J.J. Redick's NCAA record for career 3-point shots made.
JaJuan Smith also made 3-pointers and finished the night with 23 points. Before the game he was honored with his own senior night.
Tyler Smith finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Vols.
Florida led the game 48-44 at halftime and pulled ahead by six with less than 18 minutes left in the game.
Shortly after that Tyler Smith connected on a jump shot to put the Vols ahead for good.
Marreese Speights led the Gators with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Nick Calathes scored 15 points and added nine rebounds and eight assists in the loss.
Player of the Game: Dan Werner
Werner played a solid game, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
That is not what makes him Tuesday's player of the game, though.
Instead, I would like to personally thank Werner, for waking the sleeping giant that was the Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team Tuesday night.
Werner's cheap shot on J.P. Prince accomplished what the Vol faithful had been waiting on the team to do all night, play a little defense.
The problem is not with the foul, but instead with the intent to injure that was clear on the hack.
The foul did prevent Prince from making an easy lay up.
And it did lead to Prince picking up a technical foul.
Nick Calathes connected on the two free throws that resulted from the technical and Prince missed both of his.
However, after that UT went on a 33-14 run over the final 9:18 to clinch a 20-point victory in what had been a hotly-contested game.
Werner single handedly lit the fire that enabled the Vols, who had allowed 68 points through just over 30 minutes of basketball, to blow this game wide open and prove who the SEC's top team is.
He probably also just replaced Joakim Noah as the most hated Gator basketball player in Knoxville.
Congratulations, and thanks again.
Coming Up
The Vols will return to action Saturday when they visit the LSU Tigers.
The Tigers have struggled to an 8-13 record this season and have won just once in seven SEC contests.
Junior guard Marcus Thornton leads the Tigers with 19.8 points per game this year. Thornton is in his first season with LSU after spending two seasons at Kilgore Junior College.
Forward Anthony Randolph leads LSU with 8.6 rebounds per game. The 6-11 freshman also averages 14.1 points per game.
Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised by Raycom Sports on CBS in Knoxville.
Check local listings for the Raycom Sports affiliate in your area.
Comments
Yankee Doodle commented, on February 6, 2008 at 1:21 a.m.:
helluva pick for player of the game. It seems like everytime something like that happens to a UT player or coach, the rest of the team takes it personally. The next time you're an opposing team when Bruce gets a technical, watch out.
Devins gay commented, on February 6, 2008 at 7:59 p.m.:
Shut up yankee
Jackson commented, on February 7, 2008 at 10:07 a.m.:
I don't think the game is on CBS but on Raycom Sports. I believe that is incorrect information by the journalists.
Check the listings commented, on February 7, 2008 at 10:43 a.m.:
Raycom might provide the announcers, but the telecast is on CBS. After all, there is no Raycom channel. Check the listings before you criticize.
Jackson commented, on February 7, 2008 at 11:33 a.m.:
Well, if you happen to watch the UK game last night, the announcers said that Tennessee vs. LSU game is on Raycom sports as part of the double-header. I bet you live in Knoxville where it will be on channel 5 (CBS) but broadcast will be carried by Raycom sports. By the way, the difference between CBS and Raycom broadcasters is huge as far as talent goes. I doubt CBS will ever have the announcers of Raycom sports carrying one of their games.
Proof commented, on February 7, 2008 at 12:10 p.m.:
http://utsports.com/basketball/page.aspx...
Knoxville commented, on February 7, 2008 at 12:26 p.m.:
I bet you live in Lexington or Auburn. Why else would you watch those teams play?
And I'm pretty sure anyone who has ever watched a game on Raycom knows the difference between those guys and the CBS crew. No one ever said otherwise.
Sports Editor commented, on February 7, 2008 at 12:30 p.m.:
The Knoxville television listings are the listings we typically use to report television coverage at the Tennessee Journalist.
Raycom is carried by CBS in Knoxville.
I know other places that is not the case, so I apologize for the confusion.
We will do a better job of catering to our non-Knoxville readers in the future.
Thanks for reading.