KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t have the services of senior point guard Zakai Zeigler or senior forward Igor Milicic Jr. on Saturday afternoon, but they had plenty of defense and a scorching Chaz Lanier.
Lanier scored 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range as the No. 8 Vols walloped No. 5 Florida 64-44 before a frenzied sellout crowd of 21,678 in the Food City Center. The 20-point triumph was a shocking 50-point turnaround from Florida’s 73-43 dismantling of Tennessee on Jan. 7 in Gainesville.
“I am as proud of this team as any since I’ve been here because of the way they prepared for this and the fact they believed,” coach Rick Barnes said after Tennessee’s first win over a top-five team this season. “I think this says a lot about our team, our program and our players. When we gathered at the circle after yesterday’s practice, Jahmai Mashack looked at everyone and said, ‘We’ve got enough right here to get done what we need to get done if we stick together and carry out the game plan.’
“I just got through telling them that this was one of the great wins that we’ve ever had here. I just love the way they handled the moment.”
Barnes on Friday afternoon had expressed confidence in having Zeigler, who injured his right knee late in the first half of Tuesday night’s 78-73 loss to Kentucky but played in the second half. Zeigler wound up undergoing an MRI on Friday night that showed no structural damage.
Milicic missed Saturday’s game with flu-like symptoms.
Jordan Gainey assumed Zeigler’s floor general chores and produced 16 points and five assists, while Felix Okpara had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Vols, who improved to 18-4 overall and to 5-4 in Southeastern Conference play. Florida, which made only four 3-pointers in 27 attempts, dropped to 18-3 and 5-3.
Florida’s perimeter trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin combined on 6-of-27 shooting from the floor, and the 44 points marked the lowest for the Gators in the 90-game Todd Golden era.
“We did not play very well today,” Golden said. “I expected a better effort from our group. I thought Tennessee dictated this game from start to finish, and their physicality really bothered us all game.
“We’ve been amazing offensively all year, and we looked terrible today, and they deserve credit for that.”
Lanier’s fifth 3-pointer gave Tennessee a 58-37 lead with 5:39 to play, its largest of the ESPN-televised contest, but the sequence of the game for the Vols occurred moments earlier. Mashack managed to save a ball while soaring out of bounds and threw it up the court to Cade Phillips, who dished it to Bishop Boswell, who quickly got it back to Phillips for a dunk that made it 50-33 with 7:30 left.
Mashack finished with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“That saved ball by Shack and him throwing the ball to Cade and Cade throwing it to Bishop and Bishop back to Cade for the dunk set the whole thing off,” Gainey said. “That got the gym into it and got the crowd going.”
Said a smiling Mashack: “I kind of liked that play, too.”
Tennessee opened the second half with three brilliant offensive possessions, with Gainey scoring on a layup off an assist from Darlinstone Dubar, Okpara connecting on a sky hook off an assist from Mashack, and Gainey getting into the lane to hit a jumper that made it 30-21. Gainey and Lanier continued Tennessee’s surge with 3-pointers, with Lanier making it 46-33 with 10:52 to play.
With Zeigler and Milicic out, the Vols went with a starting lineup of Gainey, Lanier, Mashack, Dubar and Okpara, with Boswell and Phillips as the lone scholarship reserves. Those were the only seven players who appeared in the game for Tennessee.
“Zakai is an amazing player, and they are definitely not better without him, but today it seemed like they rallied around not having him or Igor out there,” Golden said. “The guys who got some of those opportunities took full advantage of it. I thought Gainey really stepped up and bothered us.
“He wasn’t crazy efficient — he went 5-for-13 — but his floor game was really good. He had one turnover, and he was a huge reason why they were so successful.”
Barely three minutes into the game, Okpara picked up his second foul to further challenge Tennessee’s depth issues. Okpara would be back in the game three minutes later and had only one more foul the rest of the way.
The Vols missed their first seven 3-point attempts but played so well defensively that when Lanier connected from long range at the 8:10 mark of the half, they had their first lead at 14-13. Lanier’s second 3-pointer with 1:32 before halftime put Tennessee up 21-19, and it followed a defensive sequence in which Dubar and Phillips blocked shots.
Tennessee led 24-21 after a first half in which each team went 2-of-13 from 3-point range. The Vols were also 4-of-9 from the free-throw line before making all 10 of their second-half attempts.
“If you would have told me we held them to 64, I would have thought we had a decent chance to win this game, and we were not close,” Golden said. “We guarded them well enough to win. We were just atrocious offensively.”
It was quite the different feeling for Barnes, who said: “Win or lose, this game was going to help us. We had to put guys in situations to really and truly see what they can do.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.