A missed layup by junior forward Alex Tyus with less than three second remaining resulted in the Florida Gators (15-6, 4-3 SEC) coming just short of upsetting the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers (16-4, 4-2 SEC) on the road in Knoxville, TN. Tyus, who led the Gators with 18 points and seven rebounds, was hitting shots all game but unable to prevent a 61-60 victory by the Volunteers.
A clutch three-pointer by Florida junior F Chandler Parsons gave the Gators a one-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game. Following a timeout, Tennessee sophomore guard Scotty Hopson hit a long jump shot with 21 seconds remaining to put the Volunteers up by one. It was then that Tyus missed a layup on a pass into the post by sophomore point guard Erving Walker.
Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton were limited by Tennessee and shot a combined 5-of-20 from the field and 1-for-11 from downtown. Parsons was the team’s second leading scorer with 14 points; he added eight rebounds (seven of which came in the first half) and was 5-of-6 from the floor.
Read the rest of OGGOA’s No. 14 Tennessee vs. Florida game story after the jump!
Senior F/C Wayne Chism bounced back from a poor first-half showing and would up with a team-high double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also hit two important shots from the charity stripe with 42 seconds left to help lead his team to victory. Hopson finished with 10 points, and senior G J.P. Prince was good for 12 of his own.
Though Walker had five turnovers to start the contest, Florida was up a game-high 10 points with 2:12 remaining in the first half. The Volunteers carried a 9-0 run through halftime to cut the Gators’ lead to one with 18:51 left in the game.
Florida shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half to Tennessee’s 36.4 percent, but 36.4 percent shooting after halftime by the Orange and Blue brought their average down to 47.9 for the game. The Volunteers also outrebounded the Gators 27 to 12 after halftime after Florida held the advantage 20-14 before the half.
The Gators’ loss breaks a four-game winning streak. Florida will look to rebound from the heartbreaking defeat by traveling to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thurs., Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in Tuscaloosa, AL. The game will air live on ESPNU.
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If Kenny Boyton could shoot from the outside we would have won that game by double digits. It puzzles me how coach can keep giving the green light when he shoots so poorly.
Well it looks like Bruce is still Billy’s daddy!! He owns us like Urban owns them. Better recruiter and better coach but both will still be looking up Kentuckys skirt for awhile. Billy needs to bring in some bigs who can rebound consistantly, it is embarrassing how many second chance putbacks have been scored against this team the past couple of years. Don’t see this team in the NCAA’s to be realistic about it and next year will be pivitol for this program and for Billy…
Great game. I really like this team a lot, deficiencies & all. But is anyone else bothered by guys continuing to put the ball on the floor underneath the hoop instead of going up strong immediately? I saw Murphy and Macklin each do it at least once. Tyus was bad abt this last year but seems to have stopped. This is something you learn not to do in elementary/middle school.
Mitch- What if Walker didn’t uncharacteristically go 1-6 from downtown? Tennessee made it a point to take Walker and Boynton out of the game – and they succeeded.
Reptiles- Very true, Pearl owns Donovan. But he’s also piled up a lot of wins against a depleated Florida team. Kind of like when the Gators piled up the streak on Kentucky. I definitley think a trip to the tourney is realistic because, while record is important, so is perception. The last two years Florida was perceived to be weak and undeserving of a spot. This season, as long as they keep the record respectable, they are proving that they can play with top teams (four of their six losses are to ranked opponents, three of which were on the road. The Gators need to beat TU and Vandy at home and win over Xavier. Two of three would likely work. You have to expect a loss to Kentucky on the road.
Bob- Murphy still has a lot of learning to do, very soft. Macklin seems afraid of contact. As you said, Tyus has improved in this regard very much.
We blew a golden opportunity to get a SEC road win against a team that is falling apart….Macklin has been such a disapointment and we have to get more of an inside game then just Tyus….UT was not going to let Walker beat them for sure…they left Boyton at times and he didn’t make them pay….and does it not seem like Chism is like a 7th year senior….seems like he has been there forever!!!
If the missed layup had of hit the glass 1″ to the right we’d be talking about the tough team that has won 5 straight. This team has a lot of work to do but I’m not going to criticize that loss.
Correct. But on the other hand, the team is two miracle shots by Parsons away from being 3-5 in its last 8 games and 13-8 instead of 15-6. Have to take the losses as they come. The team played hard Sunday.