Florida basketball finally got the win that Todd Golden has been looking for all season.
Colin Castleton took over the game late and Florida’s defense upstaged the nation’s No. 1 (according to the KenPom ratings) defense in winning, 67-54, at Exactech Arena in Gainesville.
Tennessee came into the game ranked second in the country in both major polls along with a couple of the analytical metrics, but Florida jumped to an early lead and survived a pair of Vols runs — one in the first half and one in the second — to get the Quadrant 1 win that will definitely hold up when tournament time arrives.
The Gators are now 13-9 overall and 6-3 in SEC play. Tennessee falls to 18-4 and 7-2 in the SEC.
What happened
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This was a game of runs and Florida had the last one. In the final 10:40 of the game, Tennessee managed only 10 points while Florida scored 29.
That, folks, is what we call a 29-10 run.
It came after a run you would expect to see from a top five team as the Vols erased a six-point Florida lead midway through the second half. When Santiago Vescovi made three free throws after being fouled by [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag], Tennessee was up 44-38.
At that point, Florida had made only 6 of 25 shots since a red-hot start to the game. But the Gators again started making shots and clamping down defensively to win going away at the end.
UF has made a history of getting off to slow starts this season. This was not one of them. Instead, the Gators led 17-4 8:12 into the game, forcing five early turnovers and making six of their first nine shots.
But that lead almost evaporated in less than nine minutes of game time as Florida started forcing up bad shots.
Still, the Gators scored five late points and went into halftime with a 27-21 lead.
Then came the second-half run by Tennessee and an unbelievable final eight minutes for the Gators.
What it means
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Well, we have been chirping about this team not being able to beat anybody good this season. No more. It’s a big win to put Florida back in the picture for an NCAA berth. There is still a lot of work to do and a lot of games to be played, but it was an important win during this brutal stretch of games.
Player of the Game: Tennessee
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Since Tennessee shot 27.9% from the field for the game, it’s difficult to find anyone who made a lot of shots. But Zakai Zeigler, who had been on fire since being inserted into the starting lineup five games ago, finished with 15 points and also had three assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes. He also took 19 shots and never got to the free-throw line.
Player of the Game: Florida
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Castleton simply manned up down the stretch. His five straight points pretty much put the game away at 60-49. He finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and one of seven Florida blocked shots (although we may need to check the tape because it seemed like he had more). He also played 37 minutes.
Inside the numbers
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
One of Tennessee’s strengths is that they just keep throwing big guys at you and wear you down. Florida was getting killed on the boards (30-20 at one point), but a bunch of Vols’ misses helped Florida cut into that total (43-36) and hold its own. More importantly, Florida won the points in the paint battle 28-22.
He said it
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
“This game is what you play for. (At halftime) the talk was that basketball is a game of runs. If they make a run don’t get down. Guys were acting like we were losing at halftime, but we were winning.” – [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag]
Next up
Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports
Florida’s tour of teams that believe they have a shot at a national title continues with a trip to Rupp Arena. Kentucky is now 15-7 and 6-3 in the conference after a rough start to the season. The Wildcats have won five straight SEC games with only a loss to Kansas Saturday the only blemish over the last three weeks. The game is on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. EST.
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