Gainesville, FL.- Undefeated no more,

Tonight (January 7), the #8 Florida Gators hosted the undefeated #1 Tennessee Volunteers in a highly anticipated SEC Top-10 matchup. It was all Gators from the jump, as Florida rushed to a 12-0 lead early and never looked back (13:36 1). As every shot fell for the Gators, the Vols weren’t so fortunate. Tennessee had an atrocious shooting night, going 12-56 from the field (29.6%), and 4-29 from deep (26%).

As previously stated, Florida applied pressure from the jump, as Alijah Martin immediately came away with 5 early points, while Will Richard and Alex Condon both hit easy transition lays. After what seemed like an eternity, Tennessee finally got in the bucket, as Felix Okpara found his way onto the stat sheet with a 4 consecutive points (12-4, 12:38 1).

Florida and Tennessee began to trade blows, but the Gators maintained a 10+ point lead during the stretch. (24-12, 7:19 1). As the half wound down, the Gators sent things to the break on a high note, as Richard and Condon both came away with late points, sending things to the 34-15 halftime score.

Both squads entered the second half firing, as Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier and Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. both knocked down consecutive triples, before the Gators went on another run. Alijah Martin began to heat up flying across the court for two electric, crowd igniting dunks, and knocking down a deep corner 3. (49-25, 12:48 2).

Florida kept their foot on the gas, as Thomas Haugh converted an and-one layup, and Clayton Jr. scored a tough bucket of his own (58-27, 8:01 2). As time wound down in the half, the Vols still couldn’t capitalize, and the Gators held all the cards. As the final buzzer sounded, Florida secured a statement Q1 win over #1 Tennessee, blowing out the Vols 73-43.

Todd Golden’s squad has played lights out basketball recently. Every given night, the Gators are getting stronger, securing themselves as one of the top teams in the country. Alijah Martin has quickly become one of college basketball’s top stars, with his high flying dunks and three point potential captivating the heart of Gator nation.

It’s not a hot take to state that Florida WILL be making a deep Tournament run in the very near weeks.

Box Score:

Florida:

Alijah Martin- 18 Points, 5 Rebounds

Denze Aberdeen- 16 Points

Alex Condon- 12 Points, 12 Rebounds

Tennessee:

Chaz Lanier- 10 Points, 7 Rebounds

Zakai Zeigler- 10 Points

Cover Photo Credits- Florida Athletics