KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee basketball Volunteers spent most of Tuesday night fighting an uphill battle. And every time they got close to pulling themselves over the top, a Florida Gator was standing there to nudge them back down before delivering a decisive final shove.
Florida got timely second-half baskets and a game-saving block at the rim by Alex Tyus in the final seconds of regulation before scoring the first six points of overtime and earning an 81-75 Southeastern Conference win in front of 19,846 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“Florida made plays in overtime,” UT associate head coach Tony Jones said after his second game – and loss – filling in for suspended head coach Bruce Pearl. “They were projected to win the Southeastern Conference outright, and we had an opportunity to beat them. We let it slip away.”
Cameron Tatum led the Vols (10-6, 0-2) with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers, four rebounds, four assists and five turnovers. He scored 11 points in the first half after not scoring against Arkansas on Saturday.
Scotty Hopson scored 20 points but shot just 6-of-15 for the Vols, and freshman Tobias Harris had his third double-double in a row, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.