The bye week was supposed to be a chance for Florida Football to be rested and rejuvenated ahead of a rematch with Tennessee. The Gators had blown out the Volunteers in the first matchup, and given that Tennessee was without two key players of their own, the stage was set for another top-ten win for Florida.
Instead, the Gators looked lost with the ball in their hands, and even though they held Tennessee to under 70 points, Florida got run out of Knoxville in the second half in a 64-44 loss to the Volunteers.
Florida Basketball: Ice Cold
The headline is that Florida shot 24% and was 4/27 from deep. That's 14% for those keeping score at home.
It wasn't just that Florida missed some open looks; they constantly looked unsure of what to do with the ball, and it looked like Mike White was leading the offense rather than Todd Golden.
The book on Florida is to pressure the ball up high and beat the screens to the spot. Tennessee did that, and the Gators had no answers to relieve the pressure. Beyond shooting 24%, Florida also had 13 turnovers and was rejected seven times by Tennessee.
Despite looking inept on offense, Florida somehow was only down by three going into halftime. Walter Clayton had an injury scare just before halftime but came back out to start the second half.
Tennessee started to make shots in the second half while the burst we have become so accustomed to Florida having just never came. Four minutes into the second half, the lead ballooned to ten. The lead was still ten with 11 minutes to play, but Florida went nearly five minutes without any points, and with six minutes to play, the lead for Tennessee was 20.
In terms of NCAA resume, this loss by itself won't really hurt the Gators. Florida seems to be floated as a two-seed by most publications.
But it does serve as a reminder that in the SEC in 2025, you have to be ready every night or you will get run out of the building by a team you previously beat by 30.