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How To Watch: No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Florida

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 10 hours•

GrantRamey

Tennessee Basketball | Tennessee Athletics
Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

It’s Tennessee Basketball game day with the Vols looking to bounce back against rival Florida. The eighth-ranked Vols and fifth-ranked Gators are scheduled for a Noon Eastern Time start Saturday on ESPN, inside a sold-out and checkerboard Food City Center.

Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) has lost back-to-back games and three of its last four after the 78-73 loss to No. 12 Kentucky Tuesday in Knoxville. The Vols are 4-4 to start SEC play, after starting the season with a perfect 13-0 record in non-conference games and a 78-56 win over Arkansas to open SEC play on January 4.

Florida (18-2, 5-2) beat Tennessee 73-43 in Gainesville on January 7, handing the Vols their first loss of the season, and have won four of five since then.

No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Florida

Start Time: Saturday, Noon Eastern Time

TV: ESPN

Streaming: ESPN App or WatchESPN.com

Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

KenPom Prediction: Tennessee 71, Florida 68 (59% chance to win)

The Line: Tennessee -4.5

Last Time: Florida 73, Tennessee 43

Tennessee went to Gainesville on January 7 with a perfect 14-0 start to the season — tied for the best start to a season in program history — and having been ranked No. 1 for a program-record five straight weeks.

Then things went sideways.

Florida jumped out to a 12-0 lead in just under seven minutes and the Vols never recovered. They trailed 34-15 at halftime then gave up another 39 points in the second half, losing 73-43.

Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler scored 10 points each but the two combined to go just 2-for-15 from the 3-point line. Tennessee started 0-for-14 from three and finished 4-for-20. The Vols shot just 21.4% from the field and 13.8% from three in the loss.

Florida got 18 from Alijah Martin, 16 from Denzel Aberdeen off the bench and 12 points and 12 rebounds from center Alex Condon. The Gators out-rebounded the Vols 56-37, finished with 19 offensive rebounds and scored 40 points in the paint during the 40 dominant minutes inside Exactech Arena. 

Florida is 4-1 in five games since then, winning at Arkansas and South Carolina and beating Texas and Georgia at home. The Gators lost 83-82 to Missouri in Gainesville on January 14 and lost 106-100 at Kentucky to open SEC play on January 4.

The Gators are ranked No. 5 in the NET, one spot behind Tennessee with a 3-2 Quad 1 record, and are currently projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament in ESPN Bracketology. Florida is No. 4 in the KenPom.com ratings, ranked No. 3 in adjusted offensive efficiency (125.6) and No. 16 in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.6). 

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