Notable
* Colin Castleton led the Florida effort with 16 of his 20 points coming in the second half. Castleton added nine rebounds and shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
* Florida used a strong start and an exceptional finish to take down the #2-ranked Volunteers. UF jumped out to a 17-4 lead that included a 15-0 run. After Tennessee took a 44-38 lead with 10:40 to play, the Gators outscored UT 29-10 down the stretch, including a 13-0 run that put UF up 55-46 at the 5:12 mark.
* Kyle Lofton added 14 points and four assists. Lofton and Will Richard both posted a massive +26 plus-minus.
* Florida earned its sixth top-two win in program history and matched the highest-ranked win on its home floor. The 13-point win also marked Florida’s largest margin of victory against a top-2 opponent.
* The Gators have beaten a #2-ranked team in Gainesville in back-to-back seasons, topping #2 Auburn, 63-62, last season (2/19/22). Florida had not recorded a top-2 home wins in the first 73 seasons of the AP poll before the current back-to-back.
* Florida has won six of its last seven in SEC play, improving to 6-3 in the league after an 0-2 start.
* It also marked the second top-5 win as a head coach for Todd Golden, who led San Francisco to a 61-60 neutral-site win vs. #4 Virginia (11/27/20).
* The Gators have posted back-to-back home wins in the UT series, both against top-10 Tennessee teams (75-49 vs. #6 UT, 1/19/21).
* Florida held Tennessee to a season-low 54 points on .279 field goal percentage (19/68). Florida has held 12 of its last 13 opponents under 40% from the field.
All-Time AP Top-2 Wins (6)
March 24, 2000
*vs. #1 Duke (Syracuse)
W
87-78
Nov. 29, 2002
vs. #2 Kansas (NYC)
W
83-73
April 2, 2007
*vs. #1 Ohio State (Atlanta)
W
84-75
Nov. 27, 2009
vs. #2 Mich. St. (Atlantic City)
W
77-74
Feb. 19, 2022
#2 Auburn
W
63-62
Feb. 1, 2023
#2 Tennessee
W
67-54
*NCAA Tournament
Head Coach Todd Golden
On the win…
“A little bit of a culmination of just the work the guys have put in. I talked to them in the locker room afterwards. Obviously, this team has had a lot of ups and downs in terms of the results in games. I felt pretty strongly, and I’ve talked to the guys about the fact, I feel like they’re better than the record indicates, even through some of those stretches. Proud of our guys for putting in the effort like that today for 40 minutes. Obviously the number two team in the country, a program and coach that I have a lot of respect for, competed against [Barnes] as a player as a matter of fact, back in the day. They’re at the top of the game right now, being number two. That part in the second half where they made a big run on us, I think they took a six point lead, just the grit that our guys showed in being able to bounce back from that was fantastic. Just a lot of great all around efforts to beat a team like that by 13 points.”
On Tennessee’s second half run…
“Stay the course. Stay the course. We had a tough little stretch there. Some things didn’t go our way. That was a great moment for us because just in the past we haven’t been able to finish at a level like that. We did a wonderful job, after Vescovi made those free throws to put them up six. Just cutting that lead back and taking advantage, getting that lead back and did a great job finishing down the stretch.”
On how fun tonight was for him…
“It got really fun the last 30 seconds. Obviously, I was thrilled by the way we started. That was a huge, huge emphasis for us to come out. First of all, we had to believe that we could beat them. That was the most important thing on top of the scouting or the preparation you have to believe. We talk about toughness. Obviously, Tennessee is incredibly tough, physical, have a ton of bodies that got us on the glass pretty good, but down the stretch I think we got the last eight defensive rebounds without giving up one offensive rebound to finish it. We’ve got to execute. We had 12 assists, only 10 turnovers. Stepped up and hit seven threes, made our free throws, for the most part. Again, it was just an awesome night for us, for our program, and for our guys. I’m really happy for them that they get to enjoy this.”
Grad G Kyle Lofton
On the fast start…
“It was definitely helpful. Lately, the games we have, we’ve been getting off to slow starts. We emphasized we gotta take care of business, they’re in our gym, let’s have a strong start with the game. Came out 17-4, I think that gave us confidence and energy to keep it going for the rest of the game.”
On Coach Golden celebration…
“It’s definitely a good thing, him being a new coach you want to play for him, just let people know he’s the right one, and they picked the right guy. Seeing a smile on his face, we’re happy for him. He puts a lot of work in, him and the coaching staff, to go out there and execute exactly what they wanted to do, and seeing him smile at the end, it’s what you play for.”
Grad F Colin Castleton
On physicality of Tennessee…
“Just not getting discouraged after a couple shots weren’t falling, I think I got a couple of good looks in the beginning. They’re a really physical team, I was telling Jimmy Dykes after the game, they’re one of the most physical teams in the country. Coach (Golden) told us going into this game we have to be mentally ready. You can’t go in there thinking that they’re not going to be physical, cause they’re a very physical team. Being able to fight through that, and having that mental toughness that me and my teammates have is just the biggest thing.”
On this win and going forward…
“We knew we had to take care of business, come out and just have a good effort. We know we have a good stretch coming up here with a lot of good teams, so we just got to stay connected as ever. We got a big one on the road versus Kentucky this weekend, so we just got to have a good practice, watch film and get ready for them because they’re a great team. We just got to be ready for that challenge.”
On belief in winning down 6 in second half….
“We’ve played a lot of good, tough teams this year. We’ve been in close games throughout the year, but we just didn’t do what we needed to do to close them. We knew tonight, it was a desperation game, we have a tough schedule with this little stretch we have here, and we got to win some games. We all know that, everybody knows that. Just having that grit, that toughness, coming down with rebounds, going for loose balls which we didn’t do later on in the second half when they were getting on their run but we were able to just claw, and fight and we came out on top.”
Grad G Myreon Jones
On 2 blocks …
“I think it was just timing and being in the right position at the right time. I’ve been in the weight room, with Coach Vic (Lopez), and to him I’ve gotten a lot bouncier, it’s probably why I got it.”
On scout preparation and knowing where Tennessee players would be going…
“I knew from the scout, a lot of the inbound plays go to back to him (Vescovi) or rather he sets a screen first and comes back to it, just me staying on top of that and everybody on the court knowing that’s about to happen, helped a lot.”
