FINAL: No. 8 Florida 73, No. 1 Tennessee 43

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fifth-year guard Alijah Martin led all scorers with 18 points, sophomore forward Alex Condon had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the eighth-ranked Florida Gators turned to their defense to make history Tuesday night in utterly dismantling Southeastern Conference rival and top-ranked Tennessee 73-43 before a berserk sell-out Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center crowd for the program’s first-ever home win over a No. 1 team.

UF led wire-to-wire, scoring the game’s first dozen points, and never really was challenged thereafter, as the Gators’ defense stole the thunder from the Volunteers and a defense rated first nationally in efficiency. Florida held Tennessee to just 21.4 percent from the floor and four-for-29 (13.8 percent) from the 3-point line.

UT came into the game with the nation’s No. 28 offense, averaging 79.8 points per game and basically were stifled on that end of the floor, as well. 

Martin, the Florida Atlantic transfer, hit six of his 14 field-goal tries, two of five from 3 and four of five free throws to go with six rebounds. Sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen came off the bench, with senior point guard and leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. (just seven points) in early foul trouble, for a season-high 16 points, including a couple 3s. Condon, in addition to his second double-double of the season, had four assists and two blocked shots. Sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu, transfer from Washington State, grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and was a brute in the paint, where the Gators outscored the Vols 40-14. 

UF shot just 39.7 percent for the game and made only six of 20 from deep, but those numbers dwarfed what UT managed on the offensive end on the way to just 12 field goals for the game. 

The Gators took charge early. Very early. They suffocated the Vols in the first half, holding them to just four field goals on 29 attempts, including 0-14 from the 3-point line, with SEC scoring leader, Chaz Lanier (20.3 points per game) held to just two. At the other end, UF did well enough against that top-rated defense — 14 of 37 overall, two of 12 from the arc — to surge to a 19-point lead at the break, thanks mostly to a 24-6 advantage in paint points. 

Florida scored the game’s first 12 points and held UT without a field goal until the 12:38 mark. When the Vols scored six straight points to cut the Gators’ lead in half, 12-6, Florida answered with back-to-back 3s from Aberdeen and Will Richard to cancel the run and eventually closed out the half with a 10-1 run to go into the locker room up 34-15. 

The Vols started the second half with a Lanier 3, but the Gators hit right back with a run of nine straight points, forcing UT coach Rick Barnes to call a timeout down by 25 less than four minutes into the period. The margin swelled to as high as 36, as the O’Dome reveled in one of the team’s greatest, most dominant performances of all time. 

What it Means

One of the biggest wins of the post-Billy Donovan era. The Gators came in 2-17 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams, with both victories coming in the NCAA Tournament (2000 Sweet 16 against Duke and 2007 NCAA championship game against Ohio State). UF now has a third Quadrant 1 win, per the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, and has acquitted itself magnificently in opening the SEC season against a pair of top-10 teams.  

In the Spotlight

The O’Dome crowd. What an environment six days before even second-semester classes begin. And how ’bout a nod to Todd Golden, just the second Florida coach to beat a No. 1 team, joining Donovan (who did it twice), and the first to pull it off on campus.  

Staggering Statistic

The 30-point margin of defeat was the largest by a No. 1-ranked team — get this — in 57 years. That’s right, since UCLA (with Lew Alcinder) defeated Houston (with Elvin Hayes) by a score of 101-69 in the 1968 Final Four. 

Up Next

Florida (14-1, 1-1) gets back on the SEC road this weekend with a date at Arkansas (11-3, 0-1), in its first season with John Calipari at the helm. The Razorbacks opened their league slate Saturday with a 76-52 loss at Tennessee and have their conference home opener Wednesday night against Ole Miss.  

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu