KNOXVILLE – The Florida men’s basketball team entered this season with high expectations due to a combination of returning talent, Virginia Tech graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear and a quality recruiting class that had the Gators ranked in the top 10 in most preseason polls.
They limped out to a 10-5 start that included a 16-point loss last month at Missouri, which sits in the bottom third of the Southeastern Conference standings as the regular season nears its finish.
But in recent weeks the Gators (18-10, 10-5) have hit their stride, led by the aforementioned combination of factors that led to those high expectations.
Tennessee (15-13, 7-8) was not ranked in the preseason after losing the leading players from the team that won 31 games in 2018-19, but the Volunteers eventually spent some time in the polls thanks to a 7-1 start.
They’ve won just three of their past 10 games and have had their share of struggles this season with a shifting roster and an unreliable offense, but aside from a 68-48 home loss to Wisconsin in late December, the Vols have been competitive in every game and have been on the cusp of defeating some of the top-tier teams in the SEC.
Now they get another chance against an opponent that has won four of its past five and six of its past eight as coach Mike White’s Gators visit Thompson-Boling Arena at 2 p.m. Saturday for a matchup that will be televised by ESPN2.
“Obviously at this level you have to have good talent if you are winning or to even be at this level,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Friday. “Mike has done a good job with this team. Like I said, right now I think he is playing the way he wants them to play and what I think everyone probably expected them to be from the beginning. This is the time of year that you want to be playing your best. He has got them playing their best.”
AP photo by Wade Payne / Tennessee’s Yves Pons drives to the basket during a home game against Kentucky on Feb. 8.The game will pit strength versus strength, with Florida’s offense ranked No. 2 in SEC play, according to KenPom.com. Tennessee’ defense is third using the same metrics.
“They have great balance,” Barnes said. “They can put shooters at every spot if they want to. They do a nice job of executing the different things they run. They have guys that can drive the ball and put fouls on you. They are playing. They are playing really well. They have great balance in what they are trying to do with their schemes.”
Here are three keys for the Vols, who visit Kentucky on Tuesday and then close the regular season at Auburn next weekend, to beat the Gators:
1. Shut it down: More than 15% of Florida’s possessions involve pick-and-roll plays, and the Gators are very efficient with them, scoring on nearly 70% of such possessions. The Vols are second in the SEC against pick-and-roll plays, and teams shoot just 33.5% against their defense, which is the lowest rate of success in the league this season.
2. Go inside: Florida’s defense has struggled in the post as well as through cutting actions. Tennessee’s best success on offense has come from junior forwards John Fulkerson and Yves Pons cutting to the basket and scoring in the paint. If Tennessee’s guards run the offense well and don’t turn the ball over, Fulkerson and Pons might have some success against the Gators.
3. Don’t forget: Tennessee guards Jordan Bowden and Santiago Vescovi need to get some looks, too. In the past two games, losses at Auburn and Arkansas, Bowden averaged 23.5 points and made 57% of his attempts from the field to break out of the shooting slump that had plagued the senior. Vescovi, who didn’t join the team until midseason, has been at his best when playing away from the ball because doing so has removed some of the pressure applied by defenses attempting to get physical with the 6-foot-3, 188-pound freshman. Vescovi has been a turnover machine, though, giving the ball up 27% of the time according to Synergy Sports, but Tennessee has needed his offense because he’s such a good shooter. This kind of goes in line with the second point that the Vols need to run their offense, because it has the ability to provide open looks for Bowden and Vescovi – the team’s two best shooters.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.