KNOXVILLE – Jordan McRae scored 27 points and Tennessee boosted its NCAA tournament hopes by beating No. 8 Florida 64-58 on Tuesday night, the Volunteers’ sixth consecutive victory.
McRae had a career-high 34 points against LSU and 23 points against Texas A&M in the two games leading up to this one. He scored 17 points in the first half Tuesday and was the lone Volunteer to reach double figures.
Jarnell Stokes had eight points and 14 rebounds as Tennessee (17-10, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) won the lone regular-season meeting between these rivals. This marks the first time since 1964 that Florida and Tennessee aren’t facing each other twice in the regular season.
Mike Rosario scored 16 points, Patric Young added 15 and Casey Prather had 10 for Florida (22-5, 12-3). The SEC-leading Gators were playing without injured forward Will Yeguette (knee) and guard Michael Frazier II (concussion).
Tennessee has revived its postseason chances with this winning streak and helped its cause even more by beating the SEC leaders. The Vols travel to Georgia on Saturday, visit Auburn on March 6 and host Missouri on March 9 in their final three regular-season games.