Offense was far from Tennessee biggest problem in 73-43 loss at Florida
No. 1 Tennessee didn’t just lose at No. 8 Florida Tuesday night, crashing out after a perfect 14-0 start to the season. The Vols lost by 30 points. They lost while making just 12 of 56 shots. They went just 4-for-29 at the 3-point line.
And the offense wasn’t the biggest disappointment after the game. The 43 points, the lowest total scored in the Rick Barnes era, weren’t what led to Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack to make a vow with their teammates in the postgame locker room.
“I think the one thing that makes Coach Barnes such a great coach is he kind of allows us to coach ourselves,” Mashack said during The Vol Network’s postgame radio show Tuesday night.
“And I think me and ‘Z’ really, we talked to the guys and we really had a message that no matter what from here on out, if we don’t go undefeated scoring the basketball, we’re going to go undefeated with the toughness game.
“That’s going to be our main goal from here on out, we’re going win every toughness battle.”
‘We will win the toughness battle. And that has to be our mantra’
In the 73-43 blowout Tuesday, Tennessee (14-1, 1-1 SEC) lost every toughness battle against Florida (14-1, 1-1).
The Gators won the rebounding battle by 17, 55-38. They won it on the offensive glass by six, 19-13, and by 11 on the defensive boards, 36-25.
Florida had 19 second-chance points to Tennessee’s four. Florida had 40 points in the paint to Tennessee’s 14 and 22 fast-break points to Tennessee’s three. Florida had 25 bench points to Tennessee’s seven.
And it all came on the heels of Tennessee’s toughest showing to date.
On Saturday the Vols bullied then-No. 23 Arkansas in a 76-52 win at Food City Center, with a plus-22 rebounding margin. They had 23 offensive rebounds, forced 15 turnovers and scored 16 second-chance points.
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Up Next: Tennessee at Texas, Saturday, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN
But what the Vols did to the Razorbacks on Saturday — what Tennessee tries to do to every opponent — is what the Gators did the Vols Tuesday night.
“They beat us any way you want to beat us,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference. “ … We (have an) opportunity to learn and get better.”
Tennessee has to find answers in short order after laying down in its first SEC road game. The Vols are back on the road at Texas on Saturday night, where they can’t get pushed around again.
“You got to be tough,” Mashack said. “That’s what makes the SEC such a great league. And that was what we kind of talked about in the locker room, honing that in.
“We may not make shots every game, that’s basketball. But we will win the toughness battle. And that has to be our mantra from here on out.”
