No. 14 Tennessee tops Florida in final seconds

A missed layup by junior forward Alex Tyus with less than three second remaining resulted in the Florida Gators (15-6, 4-3 SEC) coming just short of upsetting the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers (16-4, 4-2 SEC) on the road in Knoxville, TN. Tyus, who led the Gators with 18 points and seven rebounds, was hitting shots all game but unable to prevent a 61-60 victory by the Volunteers.

A clutch three-pointer by Florida junior F Chandler Parsons gave the Gators a one-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game. Following a timeout, Tennessee sophomore guard Scotty Hopson hit a long jump shot with 21 seconds remaining to put the Volunteers up by one. It was then that Tyus missed a layup on a pass into the post by sophomore point guard Erving Walker.

Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton were limited by Tennessee and shot a combined 5-of-20 from the field and 1-for-11 from downtown. Parsons was the team’s second leading scorer with 14 points; he added eight rebounds (seven of which came in the first half) and was 5-of-6 from the floor.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s No. 14 Tennessee vs. Florida game story after the jump!

Senior F/C Wayne Chism bounced back from a poor first-half showing and would up with a team-high double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also hit two important shots from the charity stripe with 42 seconds left to help lead his team to victory. Hopson finished with 10 points, and senior G J.P. Prince was good for 12 of his own.

Though Walker had five turnovers to start the contest, Florida was up a game-high 10 points with 2:12 remaining in the first half. The Volunteers carried a 9-0 run through halftime to cut the Gators’ lead to one with 18:51 left in the game.

Florida shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half to Tennessee’s 36.4 percent, but 36.4 percent shooting after halftime by the Orange and Blue brought their average down to 47.9 for the game. The Volunteers also outrebounded the Gators 27 to 12 after halftime after Florida held the advantage 20-14 before the half.

The Gators’ loss breaks a four-game winning streak. Florida will look to rebound from the heartbreaking defeat by traveling to face the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thurs., Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in Tuscaloosa, AL. The game will air live on ESPNU.