KNOXVILLE — The Florida Gators are 14-2 in the Southeastern Conference and have already clinched the top seed in the league’s looming men’s basketball tournament with two regular-season games to spare.
Had Tennessee not wasted four double-digit leads, the Volunteers would be 14-2 as well.
Tennessee’s 10-6 record in conference contests would be simply spectacular had the Vols not blown a 17-point advantage against Kentucky inside the Food City Center on Jan. 17, a 14-point lead at Kentucky on Feb. 7, a 10-point advantage last Tuesday at Missouri and a 13-point lead Saturday night against visiting Alabama. J.P. Estrella’s layup with 12:16 remaining put Tennessee up 55-42 over the Crimson Tide, but Alabama used a 29-14 closing run to hand the Vols their latest 11th-hour heartbreak, 71-69.
“It’s not the blown leads,” Tennessee 11th-year coach Rick Barnes said afterward. “It’s playing 40 minutes. That’s what it is. It’s being able to play for 40 minutes. You expect runs, because basketball is a game of runs at times, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Throw in the 81-76 loss to Kansas in Las Vegas in late November — a game Tennessee led 53-41 with 15:30 to play — and the Vols have lost five double-digit leads. That’s the difference in their 20-9 overall record and a potential 25-4 mark.