No. 8 Florida rolls over No. 1 Tennessee, hands Vols first loss of season in 30-point blowout

It took them several months, but the Volunteers have finally fallen.

No. 8 Florida absolutely rolled over top-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday night in a massive statement win for the Gators. Florida picked up a dominant 73-43 win over Tennessee at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, which marked the Volunteers’ first loss of the season. It was the first time Florida had beaten a No. 1 team at home in program history.

That paved the way for a new team to overtake them in the rankings next week and kept the door open in the SEC after the Vols’ historic start.

Florida dominated in the first half and got out to a 34-15 lead in the first 20 minutes. The Gators held Tennessee to just 4 of 29 from the field in the first half, too, and 0 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Vols didn’t even get on the board until a Felix Okpara free throw nearly seven full minutes into the game. Nothing was working at all.

Though Tennessee improved slightly in the second half, it was way too late. Florida still came out of the locker room on a 30-15 tear to put the game away with more than five minutes left on the clock. Tennessee was way too out of it to make a difference.

Alijah Martin led the Gators with 18 points and six rebounds, and Denzel Aberdeen added 16 points off the bench. Florida went just 6 of 20 from the 3-point line, but it out-rebounded Tennessee by 18.

Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 10 points and seven rebounds after he shot 1 of 9 from the 3-point line. Zakai Zeigler was the only other player to hit double figures. He had 10 points and a rebound, and went 1 of 6 from behind the arc. Tennessee finished the game shooting just 21% from the field and 4 of 29 from the 3-point line as a team.

Tennessee had been the top-ranked team in the country for over a month. The Vols entered conference play with several major wins under their belt, including double-digit victories over Louisville, Baylor, Syracuse and Miami. They even beat then-No. 23 Arkansas by 24 points on Saturday, which pushed them to 14-0 for the first time in more than 100 years.

The Gators entered Tuesday night needing to make a statement. While they started out the season a perfect 12-0, they didn’t play a single ranked team in that stretch. Then they fell on Saturday to No. 10 Kentucky in their SEC opener.

But after Tuesday night, it’s clear their start wasn’t a fluke. While Tennessee will be fine after putting this off night behind it, the Gators are clearly ready to compete with the top tier in the SEC.