Two-time defending national champion Florida (21-8, 8-6 SEC) is squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, and the Gators know that an upset of No. 4 Tennessee (26-3, 12-2) tonight in Gainesville would punch their ticket to the Big Dance.
"Everybody knows our lives are at stake here," forward Adam Allen
One more win gets the Gators, who are 3-point underdogs on WagerWeb.com, to at least 9-7 in the SEC. Since 1998, only one team with a record of 9-7 in the SEC didn't make the NCAA Tournament. That was
Tennessee, which went 17-12 overall in 2002-03.
The Gators have had to do well in the SEC because they played nobody out of conference after losing their top six players from last year. Their best non-conference win came against 16-12 Temple, which ranks 66th in the RPI.
However, Tennessee has something to play for tonight as well: It can clinch the outright SEC East title with a win, and can secure the outright regular season league championship with a win and a Mississippi State loss at Vanderbilt.
Tennessee won shared SEC titles in 1972, 1977, 1982 and 2000, but hasn't had a championship to itself since 1966-67. A win against Florida would also set a new school record for victories in a season, as the Vols have already tied the 1999-2000 team, which finished 26-7.UT has won four of the last five against UF, including a 104-82 rout earlier this season. The Vols were the only team to break the century mark against UF this season and did so by attempting a staggering 71 shots from the field. Guards Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith hit six 3-pointers each, and four players scored 10 or more points.
Although his shooting percentage is a subpar .398, Lofton leads the Vols with 15.4 ppg and has owned Florida in the past. Fellow senior JaJuan Smith is next in line with 13.8 ppg; the two are also responsible for 168 of the team's 258 3-pointers to date.
Tennessee has shot just 36.3 percent from the field in its past four road games. The Vols lost 94-78 in Gainesville last season, but they played that game without Lofton, who was out with an ankle injury.
Tennessee is 5-1 overall and 2-0 on the road against Florida with Lofton in the lineup. He has averaged 20.3 points on 53.4 percent shooting against the Gators in his career.The Gators enter off a loss to Mississippi State in which they connected on just 36.1 percent of their shots; UF has lost five of its past eight games.
This is a young squad, with two freshmen and two sophomores among the starting five. The Gators do average 78.4 points per game and shoot an impressive .489 from the floor this year, with three of the team's five starters averaging double figures. Freshman guard Nick Calathes leads the way with 15.6 ppg. said.
No comments:
Post a Comment