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Tennessee basketball is No.1 no more. The Florida Gators greeted the Volunteers with a harsh welcome on Tuesday night, obliterating Rick Barnes' squad, 73-43, in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. It was a brutal beatdown that puts the program in the kind of ratified air no one wants to breathe.
Tennessee is the first undefeated top-ranked team to lose by 25 or more points since 1968, according to SEC Network. This outcome will be a tough one for Vols fans to swallow, as they do their best to stay optimistic following a marquee defeat. Knoxville is always eager to end its run of March misery, but excitement has especially been building for the last couple of years.
An SEC crown and Elite Eight appearance last season marked a potential shift in how the Volunteers are perceived. Now, the expectation is an elusive Final Four trip and possible national championship. Tuesday's embarrassing outing against No. 8 Florida is a bitter yet necessary reminder that there is a long road ahead before the ultimate objective can be completed.
Fortunately, as CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein says, it is only January. Barnes and Tennessee basketball have plenty of time to prepare for a pivotal 2025 NCAA Tournament, but they must learn from their loss to the Gators, as well as their future matchups in the taxing SEC. First and foremost, the team's most important players have to figure out how to stay impactful when they are struggling offensively.
Tennessee basketball never got off the ground vs. Florida
Tennessee's leading scorer Chaz Lanier and best playmaker Zakai Zeigler were essentially afterthoughts in Gainesville. The former was 3-of-16 shooting from the floor and the latter was 4-of-12 with only one assist (averages 8.0 per game). Of course, the rest of the squad did not make a strong impression, either.
The Vols as a unit shot a horrifying 21.4 percent while also going just 15-of-25 from the free throw line. Their defense held Florida to under 40 percent shooting, but a massive disparity in points in the paint (40-14) and rebounding (55-38) cemented the blowout loss.
Despite Walter Clayton Jr. scoring only seven points, the Gators chomped down on their opponent from the onset and did not relent. They built a 12-0 lead, dismantling the soon-to-be-former No. 1 team in the nation with a wire-to-wire victory. Alijah Martin posted 18 points, Denzel Aberdeen added 16 off the bench and center Alex Condon notched a double-double and two blocks.
While it is easy to focus on Tennessee's rough road showing, Florida deserves the spotlight for its dominant effort. If the first two months are any indication, both of these programs will have big plans this spring. Their paths next collide on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
