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Vols Continue Reign Over Gators

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By DREW EDWARDS, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 6, 2008

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Underdog or favorite, it hardly seems to matter for the Florida men's basketball team when it comes to SEC East rival Tennessee.

In front of 20,036 in Thompson-Boling Arena and a national television audience Tuesday night, the reigning national champion Gators were finally the underdogs against Tennessee.

Only the result didn't seem to change.

Behind a game-high 26 points from Chris Lofton, Tennessee dealt Florida its second straight loss, 104-82.

The Gators have lost six of their last eight games against Tennessee.

An early double-digit lead - such as the one Florida built in an upset romp against Vanderbilt two weeks ago - barley held until halftime and seemed a distant memory by the time Tyler Smith flushed the second of two dunks to give the Vols a 19-point lead with two minutes left.

Tennessee took its first lead of the second half on Lofton's 3-pointer from the left wing that gave the Vols a 53-52 advantage with 15:56 remaining.

The Vols (20-2, 7-1) went on to build a seven-point lead before the game turned into a foul fest.

The Gators scored all 10 of their points in a 5:10 stretch from the free-throw line before Jai Lucas scored in transition to bring the Gators within five points at 75-70.

The nastiest moment came when Tennessee's J.P. Prince had to be held back - and subsequently charged with a technical foul - after Gators forward Dan Werner was whistled for an intentional foul that sent Prince awkwardly to the floor on a fast break.

From there, the Vols continued to pull away, ending the game on a 16-3 run.

Smith and guard JaJuan Smith each added 23 points for the Vols, who topped 100 points in a game for the fifth time this season.

Marreese Speights' 23 points led the Gators.

The Gators' start looked a lot like Tennessee's finish.

With Florida's all-time leading 3-point shooter and Knoxville-area native Lee Humphrey watching from just behind the UF bench, the Gators began the game with a 16-3 run and hit nine of their first 10 tries from the floor.

Tennessee fought back with four straight 3-pointers, the last of which tied the game at 30 midway through the first half.

The Vols took their first lead of the game on a "Sports- Center"-worthy alley-oop from JaJuan Smith to Prince.

Florida, however, ran its lead back to seven points and led by four at halftime.

Tennessee's third-leading scorer, sophomore forward Tyler Smith, spent much of the first half on the bench in foul trouble.

Three Gators reached double figures in the first half, led by Speights' 15 points.

The Gators return to the O'Connell Center on Saturday to host Georgia (11-8, 2-4) at 3 p.m.

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